The Untold Stories of the RFA
by snowcloud8
Summary: After experiencing many heartfelt and soul-crushing routes of Mystic Messenger, there are still many untold tales that lie beyond Rika's Fundraising Association chatroom. A series of one-shots from the different routes of MC, Unknown, V, and the RFA members, including new characters, alternate universes, and chance encounters. Warnings includes angst, fluff, smut, and heartache.
1. Roommates

**This section is based off of a dream I had where Jumin can only assure himself of MC's safety by having her sleep in the same bed as him.**

 **Chapter 1: Roommates  
**

MC knew that Jumin's penthouse was fully secured, especially after the Glam incident. With all the security cameras, thermal sensors, and an actual security team on 24/7 watch, it was a regular Fort Knox. But despite all the tech and security detail, it still put Jumin on edge. With the looming threat of the hacker, his cat Elizabeth 3rd running away, and Jumin's repressed feelings for MC, it was only a matter of time before the stirred pot would bubble over and all of his emotions would come spilling out. It was a couple of days before the RFA party that it finally happened.

"I want you to stay in my room tonight," Jumin announced during dinner. MC choked slightly on her mimosa before managing to cough out a response.

"W-What?" MC sputtered before using her napkin to wipe her nose and mouth, which were currently burning from the citric beverage.

"Don't misunderstand me," he reassured her gently. "It's not like I'm asking you to... _do_ anything for me. I would just feel more comfortable if you slept somewhere I could watch over you." Normally, most people would've taken this as being slightly possessive, and to some extent it was, but MC honestly didn't mind. It was kind of cute that he cared so much, even if it was a bit misguided.

"If... if it makes you feel better, I'll stay in your room... tonight," MC mumbled shyly, a slight blush tinting her cheeks. What was she getting so worked up about? Just because she would be sleeping in his bed didn't mean that he was going to sleep in the same bed with her.

"Good," Jumin smiled briefly before adopting his usual stoic business face. "After dinner, we can retire there later this evening." Or maybe it did. Jumin continued to eat his ₩10000 steak while MC suddenly didn't feel all that hungry as she stirred at her plate of mixed vegetables, the word "we" swirling around in her head like a whirlpool. Before she knew it, she was getting dressed for bed and was already having second thoughts.

Her hands shook slightly as she pulled on her long grey t-shirt. _Calm down, MC. You're probably getting worked up over nothing. Maybe I shouldn't assume so much from him. I mean, this is Jumin Han, after all. Misogynist and shrewd stoic businessman. Maybe nothing will happen..._ Then again, he had been particularly nice to her since they had gotten to know each other in the RFA chatroom. He even let her stay at his penthouse suite until the hacker threat died down. Since she had stayed in his penthouse, she had noticed that while Jumin was usually able to reign in his emotions, he wasn't very good at dealing with them, avoiding most social interactions outside of business affairs. Still, in spite of that, she had grown to love him.

 _It's just one night... Just one night..._ MC kept reminding herself, the door to Jumin's bedroom appearing more intimidating than it had before. _Oh god, here we go._ After managing to gather all of her courage and swallow her anxiety, she knocked on the door.

"Come in," Jumin answered and she pushed the door open, revealing a large master bedroom with large scenic windows of the city landscape and a large king-sized bed with black and grey covers. Stepping out of the master bathroom was Jumin, who had just finished pouring himself a nightcap. Like his business attire, his pajamas were grey and had striped patterns, although instead of a suit and tie, his top was loose and slightly unbuttoned, exposing a little bit of his chest. After not seeing him in anything other than a suit, she couldn't help but stare. Did he not realize how hot he was or was he tormenting her?

"I'm sorry. Where are my manners? Would you like one?" he offered her, snapping her out of her daydream.

"Please," she urgently accepted, holding up a glass as he poured another glass. Alcohol was the only way she was going to get through this night. After feeling the bubbly high that came from drinking, she felt herself unwind a bit as she downed the last of her liquid courage. However, it was only temporary and soon she felt her heart sky rocket when Jumin decided to turn the lights off.

"Sit here," he ordered as he patted the other side of the bed. His gaze watched her carefully in the darkness as she sat down on the black silk covers, his eyes drinking in her form that was illuminated by the moon and city lights, noting the curves of her waist and hips. So much attention made her grateful for the cover of darkness, feeling self conscious of her appearance. At this moment, she really wished she had accepted Jumin's offer of getting new clothes beforehand so that she would've had something proper to wear, instead of the longcat t-shirt and black shorts, but Jumin didn't seem to care or notice. If he did, then it was news to her. To make things less awkward, she laid on top of the sheets and draped the comforter over her, creating a small divide between them to give her some sort of personal space. It didn't last long.

"What are you doing?" he asked, confused by her behavior. Was this a commoner's custom? There was so much he still didn't know about the world.

"S-Sleeping on top of the covers?" she offered nervously.

"Certainly not," he denied almost instantly. "You'll catch cold if you do that, and I want to make sure that if someone tries to take you that I'll notice. Get under the sheets." Reluctantly, she did as he asked, not being able to deny the man that she loved. After settling under the covers, she felt him shift closer to her before she felt him snake his arms around her chest and pull her close to him.

"W-What are you doing?" she exclaimed as she tried to push him away to turn and look at him.

"I told you, I want to make sure that no one will take you without me noticing," he stated adamantly. "Logically, this is the only way." She only could stare at him, unable to read him, before it became too intense for her to look him in the eye. Maybe it was a good thing that she was facing away from him, because at least now he couldn't see the blush that covered her entire face.

If he was trying to torture her, then he had succeeded. It was unfair to have him be this close and not be intimate with him. How was she supposed to process all of this? Other than his stalwart protectiveness of her, he had never shown any signs of interest in her, not even receiving a blush from him the one time he walked in on her while she was changing. There was one time where he had kissed her, but he claimed it was a tactic to get Sarah Choi, his self-declared fiancee, to leave the penthouse she had so rudely broken into. Like the Sarah Choi incident, the current situation made her heart ache as a squall of emotions churned inside her.

"Are you alright?" Jumin asked her, concerned by her stiff posture, "Am I doing this wrong?"

"N-No no, I'm f-fine. It feels okay..." she stuttered, baffled by his innocence. Did... did he not know what he was doing right now? Had he never cuddled someone before? That explained a lot. The only experience he had socially was his interaction with the RFA members, his father, and the occasional business dinner or cocktail party.

He was always good at keeping his emotions in-check. However, for her that was not the case. After being pulled so close to him, she was constantly worried he could hear her heart beat and feel it pounding in her chest. He never let anyone get this close physically or emotionally, not even his assistant Jaehee, and she would be lying if she said that she didn't revel in that fact just a little bit. After the initial awkwardness burned away, she started to take comfort in having his arms wrapped around her. Other than maybe sleeping in her parents' bed after she'd had a nightmare, she couldn't honestly remember a time where she had slept in another person's arms.

He protectively pulled her closer to his chest, his arms locked around her waist. He seemed determined not to fall asleep, though after a while she could tell that he had gradually begun to nod off as he finally relaxed into the embrace and nestled his face into the crook of her neck, something he wouldn't have dared to do while conscious, softly inhaling her scent. It wasn't long after he had fallen asleep that she too felt the world slip away into warmth of sleep, experiencing a different sort of heaven.

A little bit later on that night, she felt nature's call and tried to get up, only to find herself unable to move. At first, she thought it was the blankets restraining her movement, but soon she was quickly reminded of where she was and who she was sleeping with, now face to face with Jumin Han. Unlike how they had started out, she was now had her arms wrapped around his torso as well as her legs tangled with his own. At some point during the night, she must've snuggled closer to him and unconsciously accepted his embrace. She blushed at the thought of it, unable to look away from the beautiful man sleeping next to her.

His dark hair was even more disheveled, if that was possible, and hung limply over his face, which was calm and relaxed. It was interesting to see his expression as he slept. It wasn't furrowed or indifferent or cold like it usually was. Up until now, she didn't know why everyone compared people to looking like a child when one slept. Perhaps it was the child-like innocence that was displayed, that adults often lost when they grew up, that one gets back when they sleep that conveyed it best.

She was almost tempted to steal a kiss from him, since he wouldn't have initiated such warm contact consciously, but restrained herself. He was weird about women being overly familiar with him, knowing that they were only interested in him for shallow reasons such as money or status, so she respected his wishes and went back to untangling herself from him. Gradually she began to move her feet in order to not accidentally disturb him and slowly untangled herself from the weaving of Jumin's arms before wandering towards the bathroom and shutting the door, the light streaming in from the crack of the door the only light in the room.

Not a moment after she left, Jumin sensed the sudden change under the blankets and curled his arms and legs towards his chest, seeking the warmth that was no longer there. He drunkenly fumbled and blindly patted his hand around the empty space like he had kicked off a warm blanket and was trying to pull it back before he blearily opened his eyes. A moment of dumb confusion of why he was waking up alone like he always had was quickly replaced by a moment of sheer terror. Panic overtook him as he pulled back the many layer of blankets, thinking that MC has just been buried under the king-sized sheets, only to find that she wasn't there.

 _No... No! Not again! Why?! Why does everyone leave?_ he thought frantically as images of Elizabeth 3rd, Rika, and his mother flashed into his mind before they all warped into an image of MC's back as she left with a sinister, unknown figure. He ran his hand anxiously through his hair, already compiling a plan of action and a list of people to fire as he kicked off his covers, ready to bolt from his bed before he saw MC's silhouette standing in the bathroom doorway.

"Jumin?" MC spoke, startled at his unusual action. "Jumin, are you alright? What's wrong?" He almost couldn't believe that she was there. She looked like an angel against the yellow illumination of the bathroom, a specter that might disappear if he reached out to touch her. He wanted to pull her from the heavens, to chain her wings down in order to keep her with him.

"I thought... I thought that you left," Jumin uttered with a faraway look. "That you were taken away from me."

"I didn't leave. I'm right here," she reassured him as she turned off the light and walked over to him.

"I was so worried. Where did you go?" he asked, his voice demanding and authoritative.

"I had to use the restroom. I'm sorry if I worried you," she apologized.

"If you had to go, you could have woken me up," his brow furrowed, frustrated that she had managed to sneak away without him sensing it. Talk about bad timing.

"I could, but it's not like you would've been able to do anything, and besides you looked so peaceful while you slept," MC smiled softly. "I didn't want to mess that up by waking you."

"You still should've... I thought..." he voice shook. Though he didn't show it, he looked almost as if he was going to cry. MC, almost instinctively, wrapped her arms around him to comfort him. He let out a startled breathe before he returned her hug with a tight squeeze as he buried his face into her shoulder. He hated how vulnerable he felt. He shouldn't have been this worried, but all of these confusing feelings twisted inside him and he didn't know how to deal with them.

"I know..." she cooed. "Don't worry. I'm here."

He didn't mean for it to happen, but for a brief moment, he thought of Rika and how motherly she was. He knew MC wasn't Rika, but similar feelings he felt towards her suddenly began worming their way into his heart, and before he knew it, he blurted out, "Don't go..." He instantly feared that he had said the wrong thing when she pulled away, but those thoughts quickly disappeared as she gently cupped her hands around his face.

"Jumin... I promise I'm not going anywhere," she reassured him, trying to convey her deep-felt honesty through her gaze as her warm brown eyes focused on his sharp grey ones. Strange emotions of her own swirled inside her and before she knew it, she had leaned in and lightly kissed his forehead. As she pulled away, he stared at her with his mouth agape before it was replaced by a white hot intensity from his gaze. Her head suddenly caught up with what she had done and she immediately began to regret her actions. But before she could explain, Jumin quickly closed in and planted his lips on hers. The kiss began to grow with intensity as many unspoken emotions flooded between them as Jumin pulled her back onto the bed and pinned her beneath him. She almost couldn't believe that this was happening, but she couldn't help but reel from joy from it as a haze began to cloud her mind. However, the further it escalated, the more alarm bells that began to go off in her head. She didn't want to stop, but through the fog MC knew that they needed to because Jumin was just starting to figure out how he felt and didn't need to do something that he would regret later.

So, with a heavy heart, she mustered all of her self-control and pulled away from him. After gazing a bit into her heavy-lidded eyes, Jumin seemed to understand the situation and managed to catch himself and regained his composure.

"Sorry..." he apologized as he removed his hands that had currently pinned MC's wrists back, a rare flush staining his cheeks.

"It's okay..." MC whispered breathlessly, gaining a small victory from invoking such a strong emotion from him. "We can try again when you're ready." He let out a puff of air and scratched the back of his head with a nervous laugh before lying back down on the bed, but not before leaning back in again to give her a light kiss on the lips, receiving a small smile from her. And for tonight, that was where they had left it.

Now that all the tension in the air was sedated, they decided to continue to sleep in the same bed. If it had been with anyone else other than Jumin, it would have been problematic, but she trusted Jumin's self-control and MC had had enough excitement for one night. It had taken a lot out of him for him to end up here. Instead, they just held each other, only this time instead of facing the wall, MC slept on her back and tucked Jumin's head underneath her chin almost like how a mother would as Jumin wrapped his arms around her waist. He rested his head on top of her chest as she ran her fingers lightly through his hair, which had been softened from expensive shampoos and conditioners. After having so many people walking in and out of his life, this seemed to be what he needed. Intimacy. And while both of them were still unsure of the dynamic of their relationship, for now everything felt right with the world.


	2. Taking the Plunge

**In which MC and Seven are engaged and finally get to go to the space station.**

 **Chapter 2: Taking the Plunge  
**

When she had first heard Luciel talk about a space station wedding, MC had thought he was kidding. That he was just saying one of those silly, 707 kind of things he typed randomly on the RFA messenger, but after he proposed, he began to talk about it more seriously. Even then, she'd thought it wasn't possible, but the further she looked into it, the more she realized that it was actually possible for non-astronaut personnel to travel to space, if they had the funds, and before she knew it, he'd began planning their elopement in space.

Through Luciel's odd connections, he had somehow managed for them to get tickets to go to the International Space Station. MC had to admit, when it came down to it, she half expected him to hack into the rocket and send them there himself, but a team was needed on the ground to make sure that everyone was safe and breaking international law would destroy any hope they would have to vanish.

After everything that had happened, this still all felt unreal to her. She was with Luciel- secret agent 707, Defender of Justice, and goofy hacker to the RFA- and now she was about to get married to him. IN SPACE! She had to admit that it wasn't a bad way to spend a buck, especially since she'd never really been interested in having a huge wedding. In fact, she thought it seemed really fun, but while it seemed cool to be married in space, it was the getting there and coming back that she worried about.

Though she would never admit it to the RFA members, MC was terrified of fast moving rides. The combined height, speed, and free-fall made her terrified to the point where she would avoid them like they were an allergy, similar to Zen's allergy for cats. Even sitting in a car with Luciel when he sped down the highway made her so uncomfortable that by the end of their adventure, she was pretty sure that her fingernails had left permanent dents the arm rests of his Porsche. But Luciel was so excited to do this that he had even considered selling his babies, and she didn't want to ruin that for him since he'd sacrificed so much for everyone else. Some part of her thought all of this was a dream and that soon she'd wake up in her old apartment and pretend none of this had happened, but as she pulled on her space gear, the more real it began to feel.

They had to train for at least a month in order to prepare for the visit, and that meant both equipment and exercise training. They were going to spend a whole week and a half up in space, so this could be considered as her honeymoon as well. But it wasn't just the equipment they needed to be prepared for. Not only did they need to learn how to use the facilities there, it would cost a small fortune. Since Luciel had "quit his job," they weren't exactly loaded at the moment. Money was the only thing standing in their way, but it quickly didn't become a problem thanks to Jumin. He made it so that they were completely funded as a wedding present to the both of them. They had even gotten the captain of the crew officially ordained by a Catholic priest, so they could be married in space into Luciel's religion. The latter had jokingly suggested to have Elizabeth the 3rd there to be the first official cat in space, and while Jumin did like the thought of that prospect, he didn't trust Luciel with her. Instead, he looked into another new cat business on how to create astronaut food for cats.

Then came the day of their wedding. It would take six hours, SIX HOURS, of sitting in a fast moving rocket to get to the space station, and that was if they'd timed the launch correctly with the position of the station. That was practically torture for her, but after everything she'd gone through, it seemed like a small price to pay. She at least hoped that her body would at least get used to the idea.

 _I'll do it for him!_ she thought, swallowing a lump that had started to grow, determined to see this through.

But when they stepped on the terminal bay, the familiar pang began to twist her stomach into a pretzel. Her chest felt like it was wrapped with bungee cords that continued to tighten until she couldn't breathe. After feeling like her legs were going to collapse, she leaned in and gave Luciel a hug to hide her fear and strengthen her resolve, but she was surprisingly met with the sound of crinkling plastic. Abruptly, MC pulled away in surprise before she placed her hand tentatively on her fiance's stomach and began patting around his chest and stomach.

"Oooh, a bit hand-sy there. Can't wait for the wedding night, already?~" Luciel teased with a playful expression, causing a small blush to form on her face, though it didn't distract her from her mission. She kept padding around his stomach until her hands finally managed to grasp her target. Before Luciel could react, MC quickly pulled it out from underneath his shirt. It was a small ziploc bag, but it filled to the brim with golden chips.

"Luciel, did you... did you sneak Honey Budha chips past security!?" she exclaimed.

"Of course! Honey Budha chips are the perfect food, especially for space~" he beamed proudly as he took the bag out of her dumbstruck hands and popped two chips into his mouth. His pleased grin was like that of a drug lord that successfully managed to move kilos of drugs past the border.

"I can't believe you managed to get that past security. Where were you hiding them?" MC shook her head with a laugh, unable to keep a straight face at her boyfriend's antics. They weren't supposed to bring outside food onto the space station, but deep down, she had a feeling that Luciel would've done this. As dumb as it was, it loosen the strings that wrapped around her chest.

"Secret~," he winked with a sly grin.

"I'm sure I'll find out soon enough. After all a marriage shouldn't be based on secrets, so I certainly hope that my husband won't keep secrets from me."

"Every man's got his secrets," he shrugged aloofly, but soon gave her a small warm smile. "But long as I get to surprise you every now and then, I suppose it won't be so bad."

"Deal." She gave him a kiss on the cheek to seal the deal, and his arm wrapped around her waist as they started walking towards the rocket.

"You excited?" he asked as they climbed in the hatch.

"Yeah..." she half-lied, feeling more anxiety than excitement. "Are you?" Using her question for Luciel as a distraction and change of subject, Luciel took the bait and lit up instantly as he began talking excitedly about space.

"You bet! I've always looked up at the stars, and now I, God Seven, will be able to look down upon the world from the heavens!" She started to phase him out as she focused more on the daunting climb to their seats, clinging to the metal hand rails as she followed after Luciel. Because the rocket has to face up for takeoff, the seats were tilted so that they were perpendicular with the ladders they had to climb up into the ship so that they would be lying down and facing up towards the sky when they were all strapped in for takeoff. By the time she finally got to her seat, the captain of the ship was already flipping switches and pushing buttons and Luciel was already studying the various button-pushing and coding.

"I wonder what those do?" Luciel wondered aloud, curious about new technology.

"Just try not to hack them, honey," MC joked, trying to ease her mind as the straps of her seat-belt gave her a visual image to the tight feeling in her chest. The countdown officially started in their radio headsets, causing last minute panic in her head. Her body suddenly felt very aware of what was going to happen. Each second seemed to move faster than the last, counting down closer and closer to her doom. Her nails were already instinctively curling into the seats in anticipation. _I want to get off! I want to get off the ride! Let me out!_

"MC? Are you okay?" Luciel asked her with a frown, noticing his fiancee had began to grow pale as her mask began to slowly crumble. She started nodding, but after dealing with the harsh reality staring at her in face, she quickly shook her head.

"No, I'm... I'm sorry, Luciel..." she bit down on her lip, "I... I thought I could do this, but I... I can't!"

"What are you...?" his alarmed expression quickly began changing into something broken and fragile. "Are you saying you don't want to get married... to me?" The sorrow and despair building in eyes made her want to take back her words in an instant, his face reminding her of a dog that had been repeatedly beaten.

"NO!" she ushered, regretting her poor phrasing. "No! I do! I DO want to be married, _especially_ to you!"

"Then what were you...?" he trailed off.

"I'm... terrified of fast moving things..." she admitted, tears now starting to collect in her eyes. "I hate roller-coasters, and thrill rides give me major anxiety. I hate the height and the speed and the fear of falling that comes with it, and rockets are a combination of both!" He couldn't help it. A small chuckle began building in his chest from relief before it burst out as full blown laughter.

"It's _not_ funny!" MC's face contorted in embarrassment, the red building in her cheeks spreading all the way down to her neck. "I hate that I even have to admit that to anyone!"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be laughing," Luciel tried to stifle his relieved laughter. "It's just, you took on a hacker, a bomb, a cult, and an entire secret agency, and this is what scares you?"

"I'm not proud of it..." she pouted and folded her arms. He leaned over and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"Why didn't you say anything?" he asked her gently, his eyes softening at his fiancee's innocent fear.

"Because you... you wanted this so badly," she sniffed, stunning him into silence. "All of your life, you've had to live under this great big shadow and the idea that you have to be the hero and martyr yourself in order to make everyone happy. After all that we've been through, I wanted to do something for you and make your dreams come true, but I didn't want my fears to get in the way of that. I didn't want you to see me scared over something so childish."

"It's not childish. We're all afraid of something," he admitted softly. "If you really don't want to, we don't have to do this. I'll call everything off. We can always get married in a church, maybe have a cat be a witness~"

She wasn't gonna lie. The fact that he was willing to call off everything brought her a moment of calm as she seriously considered the option, the cat official making her smile, but the twist in her gut told her to take the plunge. She'd come this far, and if she couldn't handle a rocket ride out into space, how would she be able to take on a marriage?

She shook her head. "N-No. I love that you would put my feelings above yours- in fact, it's one of the reasons why I love you so much -but I made you a promise, and I intend to keep it."

"Really? You would do that... for me? Wow, I really do have the coolest girlfriend ever..." he gaped at her before giving her a blinding smile. "You won't be sorry, I promise! There's so much out there to see, it's worth the effort!" Taking this step forward and seeing the smile on Luciel's face did make her think it was worth the effort, but her stomach was still buzzing with nerves. Before she could move, she felt his hand wrap around hers. "And if you feel scared, just hold my hand. I'll be your lifeline, so you won't drift off too far into space~"

"Nope. That'll be my job," she challenged.

"Ohhhh, you're right! I could go zooming off with the rocket when we blast off," he realized thoughtfully before turning to smile at his fiancee. "Then you'll have to hold onto me real tight, okay? Don't let go of me."

"Okay." She returned his smile and gave his hand a squeeze when the countdown reached fifteen seconds. It felt like an eternity as she heard the radio clamor with counting of ten seconds... seven seconds... five seconds... But all she could hear was Luciel counting "seven budha chips, six budha chips, five budha chips..." which made her smile. She barely was paying attention when they got to zero.

The rocket did nothing for the first couple seconds after the countdown ended, but it wasn't long before she suddenly felt the rocket lurch upward and press herself into her seat like she had been pushed down by some invisible force or energy. Holding out her arm became almost impossible, but she was determined to keep holding Luciel's hand and so was he. His hand was her lifeline, and both refused to cut it.

When the first portion of the rocket detached, the ship began to pick up even more speed. Luciel whooped and hollered, laughing excitedly while MC screamed all the way up, her voice almost completely drowned out by the rockets. She screamed until she felt her voice go raw, shutting her eyes and tried focusing all of her attention on his hand. Like their first Christmas together, she could feel the warmth and energy of his hand, only now she was squeezing it so tight, she was afraid she was going to break it. But if he was in pain, he made no mention of it. He only began to move it when the final attachment fell below them and zero gravity free fall began to take effect.

"You alright?" he asked her as Earth's gravity finally began to lessen.

"Define 'okay,'" her voice shook, her hands now shaking weakly from adrenaline. After trying to catch her breathe for a moment, she felt Luciel shake her arm in excitement.

"MC, open your eyes!" Luciel urged her like a child who wanted their parent to watch the animals at the zoo. Though she was hesitant, she reluctantly opened her eyes and was amazed at what she saw. In Seoul, you could hardly see any of the stars because of the city lights. But now she was presented with billions of little lights blossoming in the dark sky like little fireflies.

"This is so... wow," MC gaped at the cosmos before her. "There are... there are no words. I can see why you wanted to come up here. It's so beautiful..."

"As cool as this is, it's much prettier with you up here with me." Her gaze shifted briefly towards Luciel, who was sporting a bright smile and a slightly bashful blush, which she returned. She honestly didn't think she had ever seen Luciel this happy. The way he smiled or joked around seemed to melt away any anxiety she had with him here, and that fact alone filled her with courage, finally severing the final string that bound around her chest. As long as he was there, she felt like she could take on anything.

"If you lovebirds are done, you can take off your seat-belts for a bit," the captain interrupted. "We've got a while until we reach the space station, so you can try and get used to the zero gravity while you wait."

"Cool! I'm going to see if the captain needs a hacker co-pilot," Luciel said as he immediately began unbuckling his seat-belt, finally letting go of MC's hand.

Hello again, anxiety.

"Wait-! Luciel, please don't press anything!" she warned him as she quickly fumbled with her seat-belt to stop him when suddenly, she felt his hand grab her wrist. Before she could react, he swiftly pulled her in close and pressed his lips against hers. Warmth like a low electric blanket began to spread through her before he pulled away.

"Just kidding~" he teased, his golden eyes glinting mischievously at her, shimmering like stardust. "I only get to press your buttons, riiiight?~"

Her face instantly went from pale to red to on fire as she awkwardly floated into him due to the zero gravity. Not wanting her to get away so easily, he reached around her waist and held her close, though it was a little odd since they were gradually flipping upside down, but neither of them seemed to care or notice.

"J-Just don't get carried away," she stammered as she grasped onto the jacket portion of his spacesuit.

"Thank you for going through with all of this," Luciel smiled softly. "I love you, Mi-Cha." Normally, she didn't like people using her real name, thinking it sounded too weird. But the way Luciel said it made her melt like hot chocolate. Maybe it would be okay if he was the only one who called her that. Deciding to repay the favor, she whispered his real name back to him.

"I love you too, Saeyoung."


	3. Memoirs of a Mermaid: Part 1

**An AU where MC (or Mi-Cha, as I like to call her) is a mermaid getting to see the surface world for the first time and meets a handsome prince charming~**

 **Chapter 3: Memoirs of a Mermaid {Part 1}  
**

Throughout her whole life, Mi-Cha had been told that the world above the ocean, according to the mermaids, was boring and uneventful. Most mermaids were greeted by nothing but blue sky and spraying ocean waves, and only sirens, young mermaids whose voice and maturity had fully peeked, swam to the surface out of sheer boredom or curiosity. But Mi-Cha, curious about the world above from the treasures they had left behind, swam to the surface as soon as she was able to. The moonlight shone differently up above than it did underwater, the sky now bursting with bits of light sprinkled in the dark sky like silt. Her sand-colored fishtail flicked anxiously in the water, eager to see the wonders of the human world, and fortunately for her, she was greeted by the sight of a large sailing ship from the sheer size of the sails. The stories her friend Luciel told her of the surface world had captured their majesty perfectly, however, it was the sound of a voice that caught her. A song, rivaling that of a siren's, echoed across the waves, its melody reverberating into her very core. If she had a heart, she felt as if it would have been moved by the kind and gentle notes that were comparable only to the songs of whales.

The voice belonged to a man with long hair like a whitefish's scales and eyes like red fire coral. He seemed to be a performer of sorts, as he moved and acted with many other voices and figures, twirling and moving around on those strange appendages Luciel had called "legs," moving with the grace of an angelfish and the strength of a bull-shark. Hearing his voice made her want to sing along with him, to match his wavelength with her own until there was nothing but beautiful harmony between the two of them. Unfortunately, she had forgotten the power her voice held. As soon as she began singing, the beautiful voice had stopped. She heard a clamor of arguments, mainly coming from someone named Jumin who told someone named Zen not to wreck Elizabeth the 3rd, but the ship turned towards her, regardless of the former's pleas.

Mi-Cha's excitement suddenly turned to panic, realizing that while she wanted to meet the handsome stranger, the ship was quickly going to crash into her. Fleeing from the rocks, she dove under the waves and swam out of its path before watching it breach up against the reef she had previously been on. Louder clamors began shouting from above as the ship began to groan and lean forward, gradually becoming submerged in the waters below. Humans quickly began piling off of the ship into smaller boats. She noticed strands of familiar white hair glinting above, helping women and children into the boats first. However, the rowdiness of the crowd had become too much and after a violent confrontation, she saw her beautiful stranger knocked unconscious and pushed overboard.

Without hesitation, she dove in after him with lightning-fast speed. He had especially looked handsome up-close, his strands of white hair floating aimlessly around him like jellyfish tentacles as bubbles slowly trailed from his mouth. She had wanted to hold onto him and never let go, but she had remembered that Luciel had also told her that humans couldn't survive underwater like mermaids could, so after ignoring her instincts she forcefully dragged him back to the surface. Due to where the ship had crashed, the currents quickly pushed and separated the duo from the other humans, so now she sought out another place to take him while fighting against the water without injuring him further. He was almost two feet longer than she was, making his dead-weight difficult to navigate through the choppy waters and strong undertow, but she managed to keep his head above water and swam with all of her might until she spotted a beach to breach.

Flopping onto the sand, she could hardly move, feeling the weight of exhaustion and her own weight crushing her into the dry sand-bed. Still, she struggled to push him to shore until she was sure high tide wouldn't pull him back out to sea. Her bangs, now shielding her amber colored eyes, clung to her face as she peered down to observe her beloved.

She wished she knew how to check and see if he was alright. He looked dead, but his chest seemed to still be moving, so that was something. Moving pieces of his hair out of his face, she felt the twisting sensation of worry rush through her. She wished there was more she could do for him... then an idea came. If she couldn't do anything, then maybe she could gain the attention of someone who could. Luring humans was what her kind did best. Surely her voice would attract some kind of person that would aid her beloved. What would she sing though? There were a great many songs that could lure a hundred sailors with a single cord, but all she kept thinking about was the song she had heard the night she had met the young man next to her.

Trying to mimic it as best as she could, she did a vocalized version of his song. She didn't know the words, but she understood the notes. It was a lovely harmony that seemed to pull at the heartstrings of anyone that listened, even that of a mermaid, which had no heartstrings to pull. Despite her heritage, she felt like she could barely do it justice, but the more that she sang, the more right it felt. It was as if the music was bred into her bones, the chord weaving into her skin until they became her flesh. As she finished with her addition to his harmony, she felt the human stir. She looked down at him with a loving smile, seeing flickers of his red fire coral eyes underneath his eyelids, the rising sun adding even more color to his gorgeous complexion as she gently placed her hand on his cheek. Her smile turned even brighter as his hand slowly met hers and clasped around it, giving her a weak smile. Between the two of them, there seemed to be a moment of understanding, of pure emotion. And then in the blink of an eye, it was over as soon as she heard footprints in the sand.

"Who's there...?" called out a voice. It belonged to a buxom woman with long brown hair and bluebell eyes. Not wanting to be discovered, Mi-Cha gave the man one last look before forcefully pulling herself away and zipping back quickly into the watery depths. His hand blindly reached out, wanting to hold onto his guardian angel's hand once more before it was filled by another. His savior...?

"Who's this? He's so handsome..." said the girl as she took the man's hand, but before Mi-Cha could hear anymore, she dove back into the watery depths.


	4. Forget the Happy Ending

**A Howl's Moving Castle AU written by Illeana-Starbright, my co-author and beta-reader, in which 707 is Calcifer, and it is hilarious.  
**

 **Chapter 4: Forget the Happy Ending**

The knocking came at the door when it was far too early for her to even consider being awake. Ellie grumbled under her breath and pulled the blankets further over her head, hoping whoever was at the door would realize it was far too early to be up and go away. A moment later her hopes were crushed as another knock on the door was accompanied by her phone chiming. "Alright, I'm moving," she grumbled, slipping a hand out of the warmth of the covers to grab her phone and unlock it. The light when the chat room loaded up almost blinded her and she let out a little growl, not unlike the sound Elizabeth the 3rd made on the rare occasions where she was a tiger instead of a cat.

 **707:** _It's the South Street Door._

Ellie glared at the message as if it had personally offended her, slipped out of bed and taking the comforter with her. The South Street Door had always been Rika's, and she wasn't equipped to deal with that at four in the morning.

Yoosung, who had been curled up at her back, one arm draped lightly over her shoulder, let out an unhappy whine at the loss of the comforter. Ellie couldn't help how her expression gentled into a smile at the sight of his truly spectacular bed head and the way his yawn ended on a high pitched squeak. He melted her, just like his smile had the first time she'd met him. He smiled back at her before her phone chimed again, this time accompanied by more vigorous knocking.

 **707:** _Remember, it's tan on the dial..._

 **Ellie:** _If it's Unknown, I just might commit murder._

 **707:** _lol_

 **707:** _With a comforter?_

Ellie hitched the comforter more firmly around her shoulders and stomped as softly as she could towards the door, her mood not improved by 707's teasing. She turned the dial so it clicked when it landed on the tan section, the sky visible in the window above the door still dark, and opened the door a crack. A man in military uniform stood outside, two more standing just a few feet behind him. "Is Rika available?" the man asked and Ellie scowled at him.

"No."

"Can you take a message to her?"

Ellie barely resisted the urge to turned her eyes heavenward to look for an answer. "That would be incredibly difficult, since she's dead." There had even been an announcement in the newspaper. The man's feet shuffled a little, the only sign of his discomfort, and tucked one of the two sealed envelopes into his coat.

"What about V?" His voice trembled a little on the single letter, heavy with all the vicious rumors that spread so easily, and Ellie sighed.

"Give it here," she demanded, sticking a single hand out into the chilly morning air, made hazy by fog drifting off the harbor. The man handed over the letter, careful not to let his fingers touch hers, and she shut the door in his face with a firm thud.

"Trouble?" Yoosung asked through a yawn, pushing himself upright as if he was fighting gravity.

Ellie glanced down at the envelope in her hand, uncertainty churning in her gut. "I don't know."

* * *

Rika had been one of the best witches in the country. Her displays of power spread her name far and wide, until you couldn't step three feet without hearing about some amazing feat that Rika had pulled off. Ellie had grown up hearing stories about Rika's accomplishments; how she'd banished an entire army into another dimension, how she'd turned a disrespectful prince into a scarecrow, how she'd cursed a woman who disrespected her. Everyone had known Rika's name, and that had been her downfall.

A group called the Mint Eye had started raising up rogue wizards and witches to challenge the establishment. One of them, calling himself Unknown, challenged Rika to face him. Rumors claimed it was pride that had made her accept the challenge, but Ellie didn't believe that. After meeting the others, she was sure that something else had pushed Rika into that fight, but regardless of the reason, Rika had gone that day alone to face her opponent. The sky had lit for hours with flickers of light and explosions had made the ground vibrate and trees groan. When everything had finally fell silent, Unknown had walked back out the way he'd come and Rika had been gone.

* * *

The knock at the door at 6:35 AM sharp was expected and entirely predictable. Ellie and Yoosung's cell phones chimed at the same time, making both of them jump, glance at each other, and giggle."Watch the eggs," Ellie said, leaning over to kiss Yoosung on the cheek. He blushed and took the spatula from her, bumping his hip against hers. Seven made their phones ding obnoxiously half a dozen times for ignoring him, which didn't make either one any more inclined to glance at the chat room. Then she headed for the door, grabbing her phone and unlocking it as she went so that it would stop dinging at her.

 **707:** _Business District Door_

 **707:** _Hey, I said the Business District Door!_

 **707:** _Stop flirting you two and open the door!_

 **707:** _Pay attention to MEEEEEEE!_

 **Jumin:** _Is that Assistant Kang?_

Ellie rolled her eyes at Seven's dramatics and flipped the dial on the door to the deep violet section as she tapped back and affirmative on her phone. Jaehee Kang, Jumin Han's assistant, was standing on the doorstep in a neatly pressed skirt, white top, and suit jacket. "Good morning, Ellie," Jaehee said with a slim smile. There were dark circles under her eyes, something that was, unfortunately, normal. Jumin was next in line for the throne, unless his father actually married one of his flings and had another kid so he could disinherit his son, and Jaehee was the one who was supposed to make sure Jumin carried out all of his duties.

"Good morning, Jaehee. Why don't you come in? Jumin will be down in a moment." Zen likely would be too, but Ellie didn't mention that. It was more fun to watch Jaehee blush and stutter when Zen tried, unsuccessfully, to find out when she had a free day so he could ask her on a date. Yoosung gave her a conspiratorial smile when she took the spatula back from him.

"Good morning, Ellie, Yoosung," Zen's voice called as he thumped down the stairs, looking handsome as always. Ellie would have been convinced that he woke up looking flawless if she hadn't accidentally barged into his room during his first month there and seen him quickly fixing his bedhead with magic. "Oh...Jaehee! It's good to see you!"

"Z-Zen?" Jaehee stuttered, blushing. Yoosung and Ellie grinned and nudged each other while Jaehee and Zen made awkward, embarrassed conversation behind them.

* * *

Ellie always said she stumbled on the group by accident, but the truth was more sinister. She had worked in her aunt's bakery every day of the week, and V had come in almost every day. Occasionally they'd talked since Ellie was the only one who would serve him without flinching. She didn't put much stock in the rumors that circled the wizard. She'd decided a long time ago that even if the rumors were true, worrying wouldn't keep her heart in her chest. Unfortunately she hadn't realized that treating V like any other customer would put her in serious danger.

Unknown had noticed their conversations, as short as they might be, and had decided he could use the anomaly to his advantage. Ellie had found herself sprinting through the streets, drenched by rain and chased by twisting, tar like monsters. She'd stumbled upon Rika's apartment by accident and spent the night huddled in the doorway, shivering in terror. Her phone had roused her the next morning, chiming frantically. Seven had hacked her phone and taken over it, flooding it with messages until she explained what was going on. Even then, he hadn't been very happy with her presence, and even less happy that V hadn't seemed upset about her sticking around.

* * *

V came downstairs an hour after Jumin and Jaehee had gone to work, Zen had left to handle a problem someone had brought in, and Yoosung had left to buy fresh fruit and vegetables. Ellie had finished the dishes and settled down to debate with Seven on whether or not Jaehee and Zen would ever get together. Seven was pretty sure that they were just going to dance around each other for all eternity, but Ellie was pretty sure that they would manage to get together, and sooner rather than later.

 **707:** _Pushing them together is cheating on this wager!_

 **Ellie:** _What wager? You just said that you didn't think they'd ever, ever get together. I disagreed. That doesn't automatically make it a wager._

 **707:** _Well I'm a great and powerful electricity demon, and I say it's a wager._

 **707:** _And that you can't help push them along._

Ellie huffed, folding her arms over her chest and scowling at the phone in her lap as V shuffled around the kitchen behind her. She heard the click of the oven and then silence instead of anything igniting. "Seven, start up the oven please," V said, tone mild.

 **707:** _I get no respect around here!_

Seven's indignant message popped up at the same time the stove ignited, making Ellie giggle softly. "Good morning, Ellie," V said mildly and she turned a smile on him.

"Good morning, V." The tea kettle whistled a moment later and Ellie turned back towards her phone to continue her argument with Seven, only to see the letter that had disrupted her sleep. Her stomach dropped to her shoes. "Uh, V?" Her voice came out wobbly and uncertain and her hands twisted anxiously in her lap. "There's a letter here for you. It was delivered this morning."

"By who?"

"A couple of guys in military uniform," Ellie replied, reluctantly handing over the envelope when V held out his hand. She watched as he broke the seal and pulled out a thick piece of parchment paper. His expression didn't change as he crumpled the paper in his hand and it burst into flames.

"When do the others get home?"

"Zen and Yoosung will be back in a few hours, but Jumin will probably be held up until evening since he's been putting off his meeting with his father for the past two weeks."

"Very well." V's expression didn't change but the air around him suddenly felt heavy. "I'll return at sunset." Then he placed his teacup on the table next to her and crossed the room, switching the dial to the black patch and walking out the door. Once it was shut, the door spun and turned to the green patch, leaving Ellie and Seven alone in the house.

 **Ellie:** _What do you think that was about?_

 **707:** _I don't know..._

 **707:** _But I'm guessing it's not good._

Ellie glanced at the small pile of ashes on the floor and then back at her phone before informing Seven that she'd figured that part out for herself, thanks.

* * *

After about a month of cleaning the house and running errands for two scatter brained wizards and one magically gifted prince with a mercurial temper, Ellie had dared to ask a question about Rika. She'd been compared to the powerful witch dozens of times, largely because she spent a lot of her time around Yoosung, she'd wanted to know the truth. Everyone had heard the rumors about what had happened to Rika. They had spread like wildfire after her duel with Unknown and, while Ellie doubted that any of them were true, she guessed that some of them held a grain of truth. Unfortunately, aside from stories about their shared childhood that she'd managed to pry from Yoosung, she hadn't really learned anything about Rika.

As soon as the question slipped out of her mouth, she knew she'd made a mistake. All the color had leeched out of Yoosung's face and Zen had frozen with a spoonful of oatmeal halfway to his mouth. V had been lifting his teacup to his mouth but when she'd asked the question, he'd calmly placed it on the table. The tea had promptly frothed, turned green, and spilled across the table. "The Rika who went to fight that day was not the Rika I loved," he had said, voice cold. Then he'd stood and swept out of the room, a blast of cold air and a trail of ice following him. It was the first time she'd seen V loose his temper, and it had left her shaken for the rest of the day. She hadn't dared to ask again.

* * *

By the time Zen and Yoosung returned to the house, Ellie had cleaned up the letter's ashes and was dusting on the main floor. Her phone was unusually silent as Seven either searched for answers as best he could or worried about what was to come, and the silence was making her even more uneasy. "V wants to talk to us tonight," she told them as they put the groceries away.

"About the letter from this morning?" Yoosung questioned and Ellie nodded.

"Letter this morning?" Zen asked, reaching around her to grab the tea and put it up in one of the high kitchen cabinets.

"Yeah," Yoosung replied with his usual brightness. "Someone came at four in the morning to deliver a letter for V."

"Nothing good ever comes at four in the morning," Zen said with the air of someone who had vast experience with bad news arriving at four in the morning.

"Sometimes good things come at four in the morning," was Yoosung's chipper response. "After all, Seven says that Ellie showed up at four in the morning."

"Only because Unknown was chasing her."

"Zen might be right about the letter being a bad thing," Ellie said, cutting off their brewing argument before it could turn into a fully fledged disagreement. Any arguments between Yoosung and someone else tended to turn into chaos. Yoosung wasn't fully trained yet so his magic tended to explode when he got upset and Ellie had cleaned up a ridiculous number of messes before she'd figured out that she needed to defuse arguments before they started. "V burned the letter after he read it." Yoosung and Zen silently exchanged a look and then turned back to unloading groceries without a saying a word. When Jumin stormed in four hours earlier than expected, grumbling at his father under his breath, it was almost a relief. The dark look on his face when they told him that V wanted to talk to them about the letter was enough to cancel out that relief.

* * *

Ellie spent four full days after V turned his tea into green slime just waiting for someone to throw her out. She had not harbored any illusions about what would happen to her if she lost this sanctuary. The few times she had gone to buy food with Yoosung, she had seen Unknown's monstrous creatures stalking her from the shadows. Her only protection were the wizards that practically surrounded her, and they could only manage to keep the monsters at bay. She'd found herself flinching at shadows and keeping her head down, unable to muster her usual smiles, or any irritation for Seven's constant teasing.

Because she'd kept her head down, she hadn't noticed Yoosung's increasingly worried glances in her direction. She also hadn't noticed the flurry of not so secret planning going on behind her back, so when they sent her out to pick up a couple things from the market, she didn't think it was any more than her gradual separation from the group. She also hadn't been surprised when two of Unknown's tar monsters had jumped her, the ooze sticking to her clothes and turning her hair into a matted mess. Some of it had slipped into her mouth and she'd started to cough and choke, stumbling away in a blind panic. Her head had slammed into the stone sidewalk and she'd caught a glimpse of V's bright hair and a flash of white light before the world had faded.

She'd woken up a day later with Yoosung and Zen hovering over her, both looking incredibly apologetic. They'd babbled apologies over one another until she'd started giggling weakly, the sound quickly turning into racking coughs. V had waved them away moments later, handing her a glass of water. "I am sorry for my behavior," he'd said as she drank, voice strained. "It was unacceptable."

"It's okay," Ellie had croaked back, feeling warmth rush through her. "I forgive you."

* * *

The dial near the door spun to the black patch and everyone at the kitchen table turned expectantly as V stepped through it. For a moment his shadow had feathery wings instead of arms but they faded away as he approached. He slipped by them in silence, filling the kettle with water for tea. A few turquoise feathers drifted around the kitchen in his wake, one of them turning to ash when Ellie caught it in her hand. For once the stove clicked on immediately when V turned the dial, Seven not bothering to make V chide him into doing his job. Only once the kettle was heating did V turn to face them. His eyes skimmed across the gathered group before finally meeting Jumin's.

"Your father called me to the castle today," he said, voice rough and tired.

"Naturally," Jumin said, expression free of emotion. "You're the strongest wizard he has at his command." If he were anyone else, Jumin might have sounded bitter, but Ellie had realized months ago that Jumin simply did not care about being the most powerful. V let out a bitter laugh at that, bowing his head. The kettle whistled behind his back and V turned to remove it from the heat.

"What's going on?" Yoosung asked, looking worriedly between the two men. "What aren't you telling us?"

Jumin folded his hands on the table and said nothing while V's full focus seemed to be on the cup of tea he was making. "There was talk about war at the harbor today," Zen said cautiously, his lips pulled down in a worried frown. Ellie felt her stomach twist at that. She wasn't old enough to remember the last great war, not like some of the others gathered around the table, but she had been told stories about the horrors people had experienced. Entire towns had been wiped off the map, destroyed by bombs and by wizards who had stretched their magic too far and become monsters.

When V didn't respond, head bowed over the steaming teacup in his hands, Jumin turned his attention to the others at the table. "My father has decided that now is the proper time to restore the honor we lost during the last great war. He intends to regain lost territory, and conquer the other kingdoms, by any means necessary and using any weapon at his disposal."

"You mean..." Yoosung trailed off, voice wobbling a little, and when Ellie reached across the table to squeeze his hand, she noticed that her own was shaking.

"My contract with the university requires me to be at the king's command," V said, voice void of any emotions he might be feeling. "I leave tonight to be deployed with the front lines."

"I will be leaving as well," Jumin said, standing and pushing back his chair. "My father does intend to use all resources at his disposal, and that includes me. I have requested that Assistant Kang check up on you from time to time to ensure that the three of you are still doing well."

"You're both leaving? Just like that?" Ellie asked, trembling slightly. She had felt safe from the dangers of the outside world, but now they were beginning to intrude, posing a threat to those precious to her.

"I'm afraid we have no choice," V replied, voice calm.

"The two of you can't leave," Yoosung protested, tears welling in his wide blue eyes. "What if Unknown comes back?"

"Zen will be here with you, and Seven will look after you all." V's expression was gentle and fond as it skimmed over all of them. Phones dinged then, Seven added his piece to the fray.

 **707:** _Of course I will! I'm the All-Powerful 707!_

 **707:** _But V_

 **707:** _Take care of yourself._

"Stay safe, all of you," V ordered, ignoring Seven's message as he followed Jumin to the door. "And try to find what makes you happy in this life."

Jumin stepped through the door without saying farewell, but Zen scrambled to his feet and grabbed V's arm before he could follow the dark haired man. "Seven's right, take care of yourself," he said, suddenly looking very young. "And V?"

"Yes, Zen?" came the reply, the tone that of a parent speaking to a precious child.

"Please, don't overdo it."

V just smiled, the expression somehow achingly sad on his face, and stepped through the door in a rustle of turquoise feathers.


	5. Memoirs of a Mermaid: Part 2

**Chapter 5: Memoirs of a Mermaid {Part 2}**

When Mi-Cha swam home, she could think of nothing but the beautiful man she had rescued and she, in turn, hoped that he thought the same. This continued throughout the rest of the day, going into a lonely, longing daze anytime she did her usual route. Her morning swim through the garden through the coral reefs no longer held any interest to her. The fire coral reminded her too much of his red eyes. Singing reminded her too much of his voice and how right it felt to sing along with him. It wasn't before long that her older sister Jaehee began to notice her sudden change in demeanor.

"You seem different today, Mi-Cha. Are you alright?" Jaehee inquired. Under the scrutinizing gaze of her older sister, she couldn't help but confess every detail that had taken place the night before and all that it entailed. After she had explained, her sister's brow furrowed in deep thought.

"Long white hair and red eyes..." Jaehee mumbled before coming to a realization. "Oh! Do you mean Zen?"

"You know him!?" Mi-Cha blurted out.

"Of course. I've listened to many of his performances and he's very popular among the mermaids down here. His voice is known for enchanting many of our kind. According to Luciel, he's a prince from a country beside the sea. His kingdom is on the east coast of the maritime currents."

"Take me to him, Jaehee! Please! I've never wanted anything more in my life!" Mi-Cha pleaded, and after hearing her sister grovel for ten minutes straight, Jaehee let out a relenting sigh.

"Alright. I'll take you to him. As long as you stay out of sight, I don't see the harm in visiting him."

Since that first vist, Mi-Cha had come to visit his home almost every night. She would hear him sing and talk to himself into the long hours of the morning. She wasn't the only one. Occasionally other sirens showed up outside of his window, since Luciel's grapevine made his location common knowledge, but Mi-Cha managed to stay out of sight by the rocks. Even after all the other sirens had left, she was the only one who had stayed. She never tired of visiting him. There was something more to him beyond his looks and songs. The way he expressed himself wasn't just beautiful. It gave away untold stories of pain and sadness and genuine emotion. His dedication to his craft, despite being a prince with royal duties, was something she found admirable about him. She would just sit in the shadows of the deep, watching over him and loving him from afar, and for a while, that was all she wanted. But over time, she began to grow lonely and sad to the point where she didn't even feel like expressing herself in song.

Oh, how she longed to meet him, to be with him. She wanted him to share his pain with her, to give her his heart so that she could give him all that she had to make up for her lack of heart. Since mermaids were incapable of tears, this feeling was the closest she had ever felt like crying. That all changed after one night.

It had been an evening like any other. She had perched herself on her usual groove of rocks by the castle walls after a pod of sirens had left and laid down to listen to him, hoping to sneak a peek at him. It wasn't long before she spotted his glimmer of silver hair. Desperate for his love, his affection, she began to croon notes that would shatter the hearts of the most stone-hearted person. She had sang other times when she was outside his window, but this was the only time she was above water when she sang them, allowing herself to be heard. She wanted to reveal herself to him, to be accepted by him, to sing with him.

Hearing the sudden addition of melody, Zen stopped singing and walked closer to his windowsill, entranced by the lovely melody. Part of her wanted her body to stop, to flee in-case he rejected her, but she couldn't help but pour out her feelings into her song. It was as if some dam had broken and all her feelings spilled over the cracks and breaks until she felt herself wrung dry. Soon he would be close enough to see her and he would greet her and want to be with her because he remembered her. She wanted him to join her in her harmony, but instead, he continued to lean dangerously far outside his window, enraptured with her song.

 _No... no don't! You'll fall!_ She wanted to cry out, but the notes kept spilling out, her instincts taking over. She wanted him. She wanted him to join her. To be accepted by her embrace and drag him into her underwater world.

 _You'll see me!_

I want to be seen...

 _You'll call me a monster!_

You'll call me beautiful...

 _Stop!_

Come...

 _I'll kill you!_

I want you...

That realization made her pause enough that she didn't notice the dark shadow that swam towards her until it was too late.

"Saved your life!" someone called out before a red and black blur leaped out of the water and pushed her back into the sea. The crash had broken the spell that she had cast on her beloved and snapped her out of her own daze as she found herself facing her best friend.

"Agent 707, Defender of Justice, saves the day once again!" he proudly proclaimed before she recovered from the shock and began pounding her fists against him. "Oww! Is that any way to treat a hero?"

"Luciel!" Mi-Cha yelped, giving her friend one last shove. "Why'd you do that?! What are you doing here?"

"The question is what are _you_ doing here," he eyed her with a smug grin, his yellow spotted black tail swishing eagerly. "You know better than to approach humans, and Zen out of all people! Jaehee's going to be soooo mad."

"Jaehee's the one who showed me this place," Mi-Cha pouted.

"EH!?" he exclaimed in shock.

"She's a fan of his," Mi-Cha explained with a frown. "She was only showing me where he lived, I swear."

"Jaehee's a fan of Zen... Who would've thought?" he spoke aloud to himself with his usual goofy grin. "But still, Mi-Cha, I know, more than anyone, how interesting the surface world is, but we can't get close to humans."

"But you get close to humans all the time!"

"Ah, but I'm a secret agent. It's my job to be stealthy~ I only observe the humans because it's my job to do so, in order to keep up our intelligence on them up-to-date to avoid their new fishing nets and methods. Besides, you could have been seen. You almost _were_ seen!"

"He's right, you know." Suddenly, she found herself at the business end of Jaehee's analytical stare.

"S-Sister!" Her sister's long wavy brown hair curled around her arms as she folded them disapprovingly at her.

"I came to see where you've swam off to. You know better than to reveal yourself to a human," scolded her sister Jaehee. "What if he had seen you? He could've called his friends and hunted you down with their fishhooks!"

"He would have never done that and you know it! Zen's not like that!" she defended.

"And singing to him?! Are you trying to get him killed?! You know that our songs are only meant to be sang with our kind. Our songs have a different effect on humans than mermaids. What if Luciel hadn't been there? You could have had him killed, and then what? His friends would've come to his aid to hunt us down, and the world would be deprived of another beautiful singer."

"He wasn't... I wasn't..." she stammered as she squeezed her nails into her arms, unable to swallow the lump that began building in her throat.

"I know, Mi-Cha... But despite everything you meant, behind that beautiful face of his, he is still a human. His instinct is to hunt or reject our kind," she explained sternly. "And even if he had accepted you, you could never be with him. Aside from the fact that you have a tail and he does not, you would outlive him dozens of lifetimes over."

"That's right. You know we can't have normal lifespans like humans do. It's not in our nature to feel as they do," Luciel nodded, his voice turning into a more somber tone. "Humans are fragile little creatures that only know to take, and they live only for a short while. Nothing is consistent in their world. It's better to forget about all that. Please, try and forget about them and stay here with the pod," Luciel continued, adding jokingly, "We can sing together and talk about catfish!" After hearing his explanation, she couldn't help but instinctively shove his outstretched hand away.

"But I don't want to talk about catfish, Luciel! I... I don't know what I want, but," she began, clutching her hands together against her chest. "My heart's yearning for something, and I think I'll find it if I go see him again." Luciel stopped momentarily before giving her a smile too wide to be happy.

"That's so funny, Mi-Cha. You know we don't have hearts. Not true ones, anyways..." He was right. Sirens could only take and gather hearts. They were unable to sustain ones of their own because they lacked a soul, and it was one of the reasons they had long lifespans but no afterlife. After dying, their ultimate end was to return to the water and become one with the ocean by turning into sea-foam, whereas humans could keep their sense of self after departing and be reborn into something new and wonderful because of their immortal soul.

"W-Well, maybe I don't want to be a mermaid anymore!" Mi-Cha blurted out, stunning her company into silence.

"...What are you saying, Mi-Cha? You can't meant that," Jaehee gasped, shocked that her innocent little sister would be capable of saying something so hurtful. "Humans are only filled with greed and do nothing but create tragedy and destruction in their wake." She wanted to protest, but she couldn't think of anything to defend against her claim. Noticing his friend's change in demeanor, Luciel gave a standoffish shrug.

"Well," Luciel continued. "If I can't convince you, and Jaehee can't convince you, you could go and see my brother."

"Saeran?" Mi-Cha blinked. "I thought he was cast out of the pod."

"He was, but he has... _acquired_ powers from someone he calls 'the Savior.' He might be able to help you be with Zen," he explained. "I'm not allowed to visit him, but you should be okay if you go alone."

"Absolutely not. There is no way that I am letting my little sister leave and become involved in some sort of magic mumbo-jumbo," Jaehee adamantly refused, but after seeing her little sister's face and remembering that bringing her to the prince's palace had been mainly her fault, she relented and said, "At least, not without me." Mi-Cha floated there for a bit, processing what her sister had said.

"R-Really?"

"Really."

"As touching as that is, I wish that could be the case," Luciel scratched the back of his head. "See, since Saeran's an outcast, no one's allowed to visit him unless they want to be cast out as well. Only Vanderwood is allowed to see him, and that's because he's not directly associated with our pod."

"Then I really will have to do this alone..." Mi-Cha spoke aloud before she quickly swam towards her sister and gave her a hug. "Thank you for everything, Jaehee," Mi-Cha said earnestly as she pulled away and clasped her sister's hands in her own. "Make sure to keep Luciel from going anything crazy down here."

"I can't promise that," she replied almost immediately, making Mi-Cha let out a small laugh. She looked towards her red-haired friend, who casually put his hand behind his neck and bashfully looked away. Luciel had been one of her dearest friends growing up and had never failed to make her laugh. Some part of her was going to miss that after all of this. As if he sensed this, Luciel leaned forward and quickly swam over to her and gave her an enormous hug.

"Take care of yourself. Don't let memories of us weigh you down and prevent you from seeking your dreams."

"Okay... I promise," she promised him.

"You should be able to find my brother on the farthest shoal from the seaweed forest," he instructed, his posture giving the indication that he was slowly building up his walls again. Mi-Cha honestly hoped that he would find some mermaid to settle down with that could break those walls. She thought of this as she swam away, hopeful to start building her own happiness before she heard him call out to her one last time.

"Mi-Cha..!"

"Yes, Luciel?"

"I..." he began, biting his lip like he had something more he wanted to say. Instead, he smiled and said, "I hope he makes you happy."

"Thanks, Luciel. For everything," she replied, giving him a genuine smile before turning back towards the shoal. She felt his eyes on her, but she was determined to press on. If she had turned back, she would have seen that his gaze was filled with sorrow, as if he was saying goodbye to a lost love.

* * *

After swimming at full speed towards the dark grotto, she had arrived at the sea warlock's cave. The cave itself wasn't creepy as the lack of light from above just made it harder to see. Her bio-luminescent scales began to shimmer against the walls, tricked into thinking it was night as she continued. Her scales provided bits of illumination, but it was the use of her voice through echolocation that was the key to knowing where she was going.

"Hellooooo..." she called out, her voice reverberating through the curved, oblong walls.

"Noise, noise... So much noise!" grumbled a voice as the figure swam out into view, revealing it to be Saeran, though he had changed much since she had last seen him. His mystic silver hair was tinged with bits of pink and his skin was as pale as a shark's belly. He was dressed in macabre array of fashion by sporting the skins of black moray eels and striped sea snakes around his neck, and his long tail had been decorated with strings of black seaweed and sharp auger seashells. His isolation made him a bit unhinged, his red and black scaled tail twitching in either anticipation or nerves. The parts that exposed his arms showed that he had strange tattoos wrapping down from his shoulder, the brand of an outcast.

"You?! What do you want?" he scowled at her, recognizing her to be his brother's little friend, causing a slight flood of hatred course through his body.

"I... I heard you can grant my wish."

"Only those who have faith in the Savior can be saved and reach paradise. You have not been..." he prattled off towards the side before he recognized the look in her eyes. "You _have_ been chosen!" He began to excitedly move around her and examine her fins and scales, as if he was searching for a disternable mark, while Mi-Cha just floated there uncomfortably.

"So does that mean you'll grant me my wish?"

"Depends... what is your wish, my dear?~" he purred seductively, his look both dangerous and alluring.

"I... I want to be with someone, a handsome prince, but he is human, so I can't..."

"Ahh~ Love. True love. Love for others who cannot love themselves... Love for the Savior. I can see why She has chosen you~" he ranted excitedly, clutching his chest like he was afraid it would float away. "Very well. I shall grant you your wish."

"Really! Oh thank you-!" Mi-Cha cheered before his finger pressed up against her lips.

"Ah ah ah~ don't thank me yet. You did not think that granting such a wish came without a price, did you? The Savior, and only those worthy are willing to sacrifice what is necessary in order to achieve true happiness. Only through the Savior and her disciples can one achieve paradise."

"O-Oh... I don't have any money. If I had known that, I would have brought some shells or pearls..." she trailed off before she was cut off by his angry scream.

"NO! NO! NO! I never said I wanted money!" His fins flared aggressively, like he was trying to ward of a predator. Mi-Cha suddenly felt very small.

"T-Then what do you want?" she stammered.

"For a pair of legs?" he tallied on his fingers before grinning and pointing a black fingernail towards her throat. "Your voice."

"My voice?" Her eyes almost bugged out of their sockets. It was a major deal for a mermaid to lose their voice, especially a siren. Not only was it their only way of communication and moving around, their songs were the only ways that they could express love and emotions like humans could, and it was incredibly essential to attracting a mate. "I would have to give up my voice to become human?"

"I never said you'd become human. I just said I'd give you legs. Becoming human would need a lot more power than I am willing to give." he frowned irritably before he began bating her with a seductive, yet condescending tone. "But you still wish to be with your prince charming, right, princess?" he bated her in a seductive yet condescending tone. "Fine. I shall grant you your wish to become human as well, but only if you play my game."

"Game?" she blinked. "What sort of game?"

"I will give you a potion that will take your voice and, in exchange, give you legs of your very own, so that you will be able to pursue your prince charming. You will then have eleven days to win his heart and make him yours. Should you succeed in winning the prince's heart within the allotted time, not only shall you become human and gain a true heart of your own, I'll even give you back your voice. However," he continued, his eyes ice blue like the glaciers in the northern sea. "Should you fail to win his heart by then or should your prince give his heart to another, your artificial heart shall break on the morning after his wedding night, and you shall die and turn into sea-foam."

After he had finished his speech, Mi-Cha was horribly shaken. She would be risking an awful lot to be with Zen, but... would it be so terrible to give away her voice? Her songs weren't nearly as phenomenal as her sister's, and it was because of her voice that she had nearly cost Zen his life. Thinking of him gave her a warm feeling, reminding her of sight she had seen long ago.

It was said that if two mermaids sang in complimentary harmony, it was said that they were meant to be. Of course, that was an old guppies tale and was hardly a factor anyone considered true, since not all mermaids were monogamous, but there was one occasion that she had believed that fact to be true. A courtship dance between her friend Jihyun and his mate, Rika, had created songs so beautiful and pure, they were almost ethereal. If they'd had souls, she would have thought them to be soulmates destined for each other. She had not heard from either of them for many years, so she was unsure if it was a true bond or not. Still she liked to believe that it was, and that the brief moment of harmony she had with her beloved Zen was a sign that they were meant for each other too. So, against her better judgement, she turned to face the sea warlock with her answer.

"Alright. I'll accept your terms."


	6. Warmth

**Yoosung comes back from a late night run for work and MC complains about him being cold while they think about life.  
**

 **Chapter 6: Warmth  
**

He couldn't believe how late it was when he got home. A couple years ago, it would have been normal for him to stay up this late playing video games, but now that he helped run a veterinary practice and was working on getting his doctorate for specializing in large animals, he had to keep regular hours and be on-call for emergencies, so he rarely had time for LOLOL anymore. He thought about showering, but he was just so exhausted that he just peeled back his winter layers. Not that it would've mattered, really, since he was only a veterinary assistant and still in college, and the night call had been fairly low maintenance, so all he could really do was hand his predecessor his tools and be on stand-by in-case he needed another pair of hands. But after being in a cold barn waiting for a horse to give birth for over six hours, Yoosung was especially eager to dive under the covers, especially with how warm and peaceful his wife looked all snuggled up underneath them. It was around 4 a.m. when he crawled back into bed. Her presence alone made the bed appear more warm and appealing as he took off his glasses and set them by the alarm clock, eager to let the stresses of the day melt away in her embrace.

"Mrrmmm...mmmsung...?" stirred a voice belonging to his wife, who he had accidentally jarred from her sleep. "What are you...? Did you now just get back?" Her long disheveled hair was a clear indicator that he had awoken her from a particularly deep sleep, making Yoosung feel a twinge of guilt for being the cause of her distress as he leaned over her to fix the covers around them and slid into bed.

"Yeah. I'm sorry for waking you, MC. Go back to bed," Yoosung whispered apologetically, giving his wife a kiss on the temple as he instinctively wrapped his arms around her. She instantly curled away from his touch with a slight hiss.

"Jesus Christ, Yoosung... why are you so cold?" MC grumbled, repressing a shiver as goosebumps began to form on her arms and legs.

"I'm sorry, honey. Dr. Fung paged me for a late night run for a pregnant mare, and the barn didn't have any space heaters left for us."

"So that's why you smell of hay," MC mumbled with an afterthought, but not before grabbing Yoosung's arm as he began to retract his arms around her and move away. "I didn't say I didn't want to cuddle. Just grab another blanket."

"But..." Yoosung began, apprehensively trying to avoid hurting his wife. "I don't want to give you pneumonia and make you sick. Plus, what if it affects the baby?"

"Yoosung, I'm pregnant, not made of glass. Me snuggling with my cold husband won't hurt either of us, I promise," she reassured him, mildly irritated that he treated her like she was a bomb ready to go off instead of a woman with needs. Cautiously, Yoosung relented and wrapped a blue fleece blanket around her with his arms and tentatively pulled his wife to his chest, gently resting his hand on the large baby bump on her stomach.

"She seems to be active tonight," Yoosung remarked with a small amused smile, feeling a light thump occasionally tapping against his hand from inside her belly.

"Well, that's because she knows her daddy's home," MC smiled softly as she placed her hand over his on her stomach.

"Sorry that I woke you two up," he apologized again. MC let out a soft sigh, knowing her husband wasn't going to let this go anytime soon.

"No, it's fine. The baby was keeping me up anyways," she yawned, stretching her arms slightly before tucking them back under Yoosung's embrace. "I think I only got to sleep about an hour ago. I'm starting to think she's inherited your ability to stay up all night."

"Ha ha, very funny," he rolled his eyes sarcastically, nestling into her long soft hair. Thinking about his wife and future daughter reminded him of the hours before he had spent with Dr. Fung.

He had been called out to a barn outside of Seoul for a pregnant mare that was giving birth and had to drive almost an hour before he met up with his associate who was to oversee the birth. One of the reasons he had been specifically called out was because the mare had a past history of losing her foals, either due to premature birth or miscarriage, and Dr. Fung thought it would be good experience for him to see how to deliver a foal. Unfortunately for him, horses weren't like people. You couldn't cart them off to a hospital when they went into labor. You had to go out and drive to their place of residence, and since horses were usually pretty private, you couldn't be near them when they gave birth because they would instinctively delay the process in order to protect their foal. So Yoosung ended up sitting out of sight with Dr. Fung while they anxiously waited for the foal. During the wait period, he occasionally flipped out his phone and texted on the RFA app to calm his nerves, but after a while, everyone had gone to sleep and left him in silence.

It had been a long couple of hours, but finally, the mare managed to give birth to a healthy colt. Unfortunately, that fact alone didn't prevent the oncoming complications. Shortly after the colt had arrived, there had been some issues about him not being able to breathe properly, but after quickly removing some of the excess mucus away from its nostrils, the foal had begun to breathe easy and was soon standing within the hour by his mother's side as if nothing had happened. That thought alone scared Yoosung into realizing how fragile life really was.

Horses, born into a world as tiny, awkward, and weak creatures, had the ability to stand only an hour after birth. Most of the time horses didn't even need the interference of humans, but if Yoosung and Dr. Fung hadn't been there to assist the pair, the foal could have suffocated and died. It was because of Yoosung's ability to act that had helped save the foal's life. And it made him think. He helped the foal because he knew how to do it with confidence, but would he be able to do the same when the time came for the birth of his own child? Would he be able to provide the same amount of care and protection as the mare gave her colt?

"MC?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think I'll be a good dad?" Yoosung asked her. She paused for a moment before positioning herself so she could turn and look at him.

"Of course you will, honey. Why would you say that?" she asked, suddenly more awake than she had been before. He let out an exhausted sigh.

"I don't know... I mean," Yoosung began, running his hand through his hair. "All my life, people kept treating me like a child, and even after all that we've been through, sometimes I still feel like one."

"Well, that's not necessarily a bad thing," MC offered with a small shrug. "Deep down inside, we all have an inner child we like to let out from time to time. We can't be serious all the time..." she trailed off before adding, "Well, except for Jumin."

"No kidding," he scoffed. "But what if I'm no good at the serious parts of parenting? Like what if our daughter gets bad grades or refuses to eat her vegetables or-!"

"Honey, don't worry about it. It's too early to be thinking about all of this. You're just tired. If you're really worried about it, we can discuss it in the morning. This kid won't exactly let me have coffee, you know," MC assured her husband, suddenly craving a cup of coffee more than anything. "And besides, you're not the only whose going to be a first-time parent, you know, and it's not like you're going to be doing this alone. You've got me and your mom, and the whole RFA behind you, so as far as parenting goes, I think we'll be okay. We'll just take it, one step at a time."

Her words may have been forced from lack of sleep, but they left a warm feeling inside his heart. She was right. He didn't have to be alone anymore. After Rika had died, he'd felt like a huge hole had been left behind, like the ground started crumbling beneath him. If he had been alone, he felt like he would have eventually slipped into the same crippling depression that inevitably killed Rika, but thanks to MC, he had stumbled back onto solid ground, and now, not only was he pursuing his dream career, he was happily married to the love of his life and expecting their first child. Before MC, he had been uncertain, but if she was able to help him find solid ground again, then maybe she would help him walk the right path.

"Okay. Just promise me we won't leave Seven in charge of our kid," Yoosung added with a smile. MC wrinkled her nose at the thought of it.

"Yeaahhh, I'm not very comfortable letting Luciel babysit my kid, unless it's through a camera."

"Uh huh," Yoosung agreed. "Speaking of which, did he set up the baby monitors for the house yet?"

"I don't know. I'm too tired to think anymore..." MC sighed tiredly, letting out another yawn.

"Alright, let's get some sleep..." he nodded, snuggling back into his wife's side to try and get comfortable, though his mind felt more awake with questions filled with uncertainty. "But what if he programmed them to only speak Arabic and-?"

"Shhhh, Yoosung, it's time to go to sleep now..." MC shushed her husband.

"Okay..." he yielded, but not before deciding to break the silence one last time by adding, "I love you..."

"Love you too, sweetie," she answered before kissing him and giving him a dark stare. "Now shut up and go to bed."

"Yes ma'am."


	7. Remember

**Luciel and MC are captured by Mint Eye and contemplate how they got there. Inspired by Mystic Messenger theories, Steins;Gate, time travel, and a combination of 707's bad endings.**

 **Chapter 7: Remember  
**

Sitting inside the cell of Mint Eye, MC and Luciel awaited their fate. The cold chill could be felt, even through his black and yellow hoodie.

"I'm so sorry, MC. This is all my fault," Luciel spoke, his eyes downcast. "I never meant to drag you into this." MC shook her head.

"You didn't drag me into anything, Luciel. This was all my doing. I was the one who downloaded the app," she apologized, clasping her hands together anxiously. "I don't understand. What happened? Where did I go wrong?"

"It's because you reset, right?" Luciel gave her a watery smile that never reached his eyes. "I know you're not real, MC. That you're just someone using this avatar puppet that _they_ created to communicate with me, one that has the ability to jump back in time and retain everything from those lost timelines." He paused, choking on his own words as tears began to fill his eyes. "Is it wrong that I like you, anyways? All these different timelines, you've tried to help make the RFA and everyone in it the best that they can be. Nothing ever sticks though, does it?"

A small trail of tears ran down her face.

"My time leaps only last eleven days!" she wailed, holding her head in her hands. "I can't control the reset! It just happens, no matter how hard I try!"

"So you're telling me that no matter what, I'll always forget? Will I lose all of the things V told me?! That I-!" Luciel growled, clenching his fist before pounding the wall and yelling, "dammit!" He paced furiously in the cell, unsure of what to do with himself. How many times was he going to have to go through this? Each timeline just seemed to get worse and worse. Strands of himself ran across every timeline like binary code, only every time his data was copied, a bit of himself would be lost with every reset. They all blurred together now. He couldn't think straight anymore. He was gridlocked.

Suddenly, he understood why Zen smoked and drank so much in his youth. Dealing with stuff as heavy as this was too much. He was frustrated and angry. Angry at her, at Mint Eye, at V, but mostly he was just angry at himself for letting this happen. Even with MC's eleven day resets, the time before the RFA, he was fully at fault for what happened in his past, and no amount of resets MC did could ever change that. After taking a few cleansing breathes, he treated MC to silence until he felt his anger cool down, trying to come up with a plan.

"How many days do you have left before the reset?" he asked her dully.

"Two." Luciel swore, running his hands through his hair before he rubbed his eyes underneath his glasses. The natural laws wouldn't work in her favor this time. Who knows what horrible things she would see up until then?

"What about early resets? How do you end up resetting, if you don't manage to get a happy ending that lands you on the eleventh day?"

"Death," she gulped. "Or worse." He grew silent, his expression unreadable.

"And you _still_ want to go back... for me? Even if it results in your death or...?" he trailed off, his voice raw with emotion, not wanting to finish that sentence.

"Of course, Luciel. I can't just abandon you," she replied earnestly, like it was a no-brainer that she thought he deserved happiness. "Everyone else got their happy ending. It's time you did too."

"But what if it gets too hard for you? What if you can't fix me and just decide to give up on me and walk away?" he asked, unsure what to do with himself over the fuss she was making over him. "It's not like you couldn't. You could just delete the app and never talk to us again. I wouldn't even remember who you are because you wouldn't be there to begin with."

"Because I promised you, Luciel! I promised to give you a happy ending!" Luciel's eyes widened, coming to a stunning realization.

"...We've had this conversation before... haven't we?" he whispered in awe. "How many times?" She didn't answer, avoiding his golden stare that seemed to stare into her soul. "How many times?!" he repeated, a little more loudly.

"Counting this one, this will be the fourth time I've tried to help you..." MC finally admitted softly, unable to contain her pain any longer as sobs wracked through her body, like a dam had just broke. Luciel sat there contemplating her words, staring at her like he had found a kindred spirit. How many times had she been forced to relive the same eleven days? How many times had she suffered to help the other RFA members but was unable to tell a soul about all the pain she went through in remembering and reliving each day? _She's just like me..._

"Alright then," Luciel gave her a solemn nod before standing up and confidently slipping back into his old persona. "I'm going to give you some help, a book of cheat codes of how to hack the hacker, the amazing 707, Defender of Justice! Hey, look at me." He looked over to see if she was looking into his eyes. She blinked owlishly through the tears before he gave her a reassuring smile. "It's going to be alright. Trust me. Just follow my instructions."

She gave a small sniff before giving him a quick, stiff nod with a soft 'mmhmm'.

"Spend any opportunity you can to try and talk to me. Don't hesitate to call or text any chance you get. The highlight of my work day is hearing your voice. Just be your normal, curious self. Also, be persistent. I tend to get involve with my work a lot, so if I suddenly lock up, call me out on it." His cheeks flushed slightly as he continued on explaining, not exactly comfortable with being so vulnerable. "You also need to help me save Saeran. I know he's messed up and has probably threatened you in many different timelines, but he wasn't always like this. If there's even just the smallest chance of saving him, I'll take it."

"Why?" MC asked. "Why would you stick your neck so far out for him?"

"Because it's my fault that he's this way," Luciel said hoarsely, but he refused to explain any further. "I'll probably tell you all about it later, if we get to that point, or maybe I already have, but there's one final thing you should know about me: my real name isn't Luciel. I had to leave that name and life behind when I joined up with the agency, and I haven't used it ever since, but if I tell you my true name, that means that I fully trust you, and that might just be the key to-" Suddenly, a creak down the hall alerted the duo to oncoming cult members. Luciel could see the fear and panic flooding into her eyes.

"Listen, I don't know how much of this will be accurate for this new timeline, but one thing that's certain is that I love you, MC! No matter how many timelines or resets you go through, know that I love you in every single one of them! That has been the one and only constant," Luciel spoke quickly as he calmly held her face in his hands. "I might try and deny it, maybe even try and push you away. The fact that I'm admitting it to you now, after everything we've been through recently, is a testament to how far I'll go to ignore it. Just remember that no matter how much I try to push you away, no matter what I say or do, don't forget that fact." He rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes before he heard the creak and clunk of an opened cell door and was suddenly torn away from her.

"Luciel!" MC cried out before she was held back by two of the masked cult members.

"Remember what I told you, MC! Remember!" Luciel yelled as he was dragged away.

"I will! I'll go back, Luciel! I'll go back and make sure none of this ever happens! I promise! I lov-" she cried out, thrashing desperately against the guards before they pressed her into the concrete floor. Luciel was then strong-armed until he was forced to face one of the cult members. Judging from the extravagant robes, this one was the leader.

"Brother Saeran has already gathered all the knowledge from the RFA system," one of the members spoke to the hooded leader.

"It's done, then. There's no need for two hackers in my order," the leader spoke coldly, the voice feminine and oddly familiar. "Get rid of the spare. Prepare the other one for a visit to the alchemist."

"NOOO!" MC screeched, overhearing the conversation, her voice echoing loudly through the hallway like a vengeful banshee. Luciel squeezed his eyes shut, silently apologizing to MC for yet having another thing to go through and remember.

The last thing he saw was hair like a heavenly halo, hearing the soft click of a pistol before it was replaced by the sound of a gunshot. His eyes vacantly opened wide as a mop of silver hair stuck out of the crowd, slowly being dyed back to red with his own blood.


	8. Memoirs of a Mermaid: Part 3

**Chapter 8: Memoirs of a Mermaid {Part 3}  
**

Bobbing towards the edge of the rocks, Mi-Cha beached herself on the shore nearby where Zen lived and sat the large conch shell potion on the sand out of the tide's reach. Normally, she would've had no problem just propping herself on the usual groove of rocks and swim to shore, but she reminded herself that, after she took the potion, the ocean would no longer be her friend. If she was going to navigate through the waters again, it was going to be as a human, and currently, she didn't have any knowledge of how humans swam, if they did at all.

That gave her something else to think over as she propped herself up on the sand. Unplugging the seaweed from the opening, Mi-Cha stared at the blue liquid gathered inside and sniffed the contents after catching her breath. It was mostly odorless, though there was a slight hint of fish oil, and was filled with an unnaturally blue-green, almost mint colored, liquid. Mi-Cha hesitated for a moment, wondering if this was the best course of action, before she renewed her resolve and drank the strange, azure elixir, assuming the drink would at least be somewhat edible. The potion scorched her mouth as it ran down her throat, the bitter taste triggering her gag reflex before she forced herself to keep the concoction down with a rough cough.

 _I was wrong about the taste,_ she thought weakly, suddenly regretting drinking the bizarre potion. A warm tingling emitting in her tail quickly changed from a burning sensation to excruciating as it spread from her waist all the way down to her caudal fins like an electric eel's current. Her sand-colored scales began to turn cloudy and flecked off like dried-out bits of skin. The process, to a bystander, looked very much like when her kind shed their skin, like a sea snake, only instead of painlessly losing her old scales in favor of a new ones, it was like plucking them all out at once. It was when she was crying out in pain that she knew her voice was gone. The only noise coming out of her mouth was the air and excess salt water she was expelling out of her lungs. She gasped and wailed silently at that sad realization as the last bit of her tail broke off in the middle and split it into two appendages, now rid of the last thing that had made her who she was. Her eyes squeezed so tightly as she retched up ocean water, since she no longer needed gills to help diffuse the oxygen out of the water, that she didn't notice the fast footsteps approaching behind her.

* * *

Zen stood on his balcony in a daze. Due to recent events, he had become more distracted than usual, more so than when he encountered a mirror and admired his reflection. For some reason, ever since the night he had washed ashore, he couldn't stop thinking about the angel that had rescued him. Her beauty was almost as blinding as his own, and her singing was so ethereal, he was almost convinced that he had made her up, but something told him that he couldn't dream up someone that beautiful. Well, other than himself.

In fact, her voice was probably what saved his life that night. With a song as expressive and emotional as hers, he couldn't help but stay to listen. Why leave for heaven when the angels were already singing for you? The only thing that made him question if she was real or not was the song she sang was something only he knew, something that he'd written and performed secretly behind his parents' backs. His thoughts on her haunting melody were briefly interrupted by a knock on his bedroom door.

"Your Highness, are you almost ready?" asked the male guard, his tousled blonde hair peeking through the cracked door.

"I'll be ready in a moment, Yoosung," Zen gave his friend a small smile before the guard ushered out the doorway. Out of all the staff that his family kept on hand, Yoosung had to be Zen's favorite. He was almost like the younger brother that he never had, but he was too distracted to give him much attention this morning.

Normally, Zen would sit out on his balcony and let the music come to him, but his muse seemed to be escaping him today. One thing that didn't escape his eye though was a small figure strewn out and lying face down of the beach. Rushing past Yoosung's distressed exclamations, Zen sprinted down the castle's stone staircases before jogging briskly down the beach until he stood over the collapsed figure.

"Oh my god, miss, are you alright?! Miss? Can you here me?" he asked her frantically as he assessed her condition. Like he had thought, it was a young woman, and for a moment, he could have sworn that her legs had been fused together and shimmered like iridescent nacre, but he quickly disregarded it. His eyes must have been playing tricks on him. Following up her long slender legs, his fair complexion flushed tomato red at the sudden realization that the mystery woman was completely naked. The long strands of chestnut hair covered most of her body, but being the gentleman that he was, he didn't want to take any chances of seeing something private, so he quickly removed off his long overcoat.

"Here," he said, offering his overcoat before wrapping it around her like a blanket. Judging from her lack of clothing and haggard condition, it was possible she was a survivor of a shipwreck. She let out a soft moan and tried to push herself up before collapsing in the sand. The prince kneeled down and turned her over so that she was resting on his lap. She weakly tugged at the sleeves of his coat as he swaddled around her like a blanket. Then she when she managed to get her bearings, she looked up at him at him in astonishment before giving him the most warm, kind-hearted smile he had ever seen, and then fainted. Slumped over in his arms, he hefted her up so that he cradled her in his arms and made sure not to disturb the overcoat draped over her, which she clung to so tightly.

"Your Highness, what's going on? Why were you in such a hurry?" Yoosung asked before pausing to look at the woman draped in his arms. "Who's she?"

"Yoosung, grab the royal physician, and some of mother's nightgowns and bring them to my room. If she asks, tell her that the servants want to darn some of clothing."

"Uh, s-sure! Right away, sir!" Yoosung nodded sharply with a slightly flushed expression before rushing off.

"It's alright. I've got you..." Zen whispered to her softly and began carrying her towards the castle.


	9. Hollow Statues

**My interpretation of why Jumin Han hates women, especially the women his father dates, taken from Day 6 of the Jumin Route. Warning! Some explicit content!**

 **Chapter 9: Hollow Statues**

Jumin had remembered that he'd had a lot to drink the night after his father brought his new girlfriend to dinner. It was a 1846 Château Pétrus, and it had a nice full-body to it. The label was worn and was peeling a bit on the side, but other than that, it was a well-kept for such an exceptional Merlot. He didn't think it was strange that he remembered the wine more than his father's girlfriend. She didn't really have a face to her. To him, she looked like all the others. The same sharp, greedy eyes, the same expensive clothes and hair, same tawdry perfume, and a cheery falseness that always raised a red flag. They were a lot like statues: stiff, flawless, yet hollow inside.

However, this particular girlfriend's actions definitely stood out to him as more bold than the other gold-diggers his father usually kept on his arm, as she actively shot him looks across the dinner-table and was a lot more outspoken than most. He remembered his head hurting a lot after having to listen to her prattling on about politics she didn't understand or having the latest designer gear while she gently stroked his father's arm or thigh.

Unbeknownst to his father, she also had her Frada heels running up Jumin's pant-leg in a one-sided attempt at footsie. After Jumin vocalized his discomfort with said party, she feigned innocence and pleaded that she meant that to be for his father, sharing a joking laugh with his Mr. Han Sr. while Jumin fought off a long warranted eye-roll that would have been unbecoming for a company heir. However, despite that he had explicitly made his point of being uncomfortable, the woman kept giving him subtle glances and gestures when his father wasn't looking, even pretending that she was resting her foot against a table leg instead of his own a couple of times when she reattempted playing footsie.

Despite the unwanted contact, Jumin maintained his cold, indifferent expression and coldly rebuffed her advances before he excused himself from the dinner-table towards the men's restroom. After briefly checking to see if the stalls were empty, he gave the restroom attendant ₩30000 to vacate the premise before Jumin locked himself inside. There he stood sealed off from the outside world in a restaurant bathroom, not thinking, not doing anything but leaning over the sink trying to regain his composure.

Five minutes. Threads in his mind that were starting to unravel were being forced back down.

Ten minutes. Deep breathes and a slightly numbness could be felt throughout his entire body.

Fifteen minutes gone. The chaos in his head finally began to settle and a splash of cold water brought him back sharply to reality. Unlocking the restroom door twenty minutes later, he gave a silent, polite nod to the staff member and threw up his usual emotional walls before managing to give his father the most professional excuse he could think of in order to escape this uncomfortable endeavor. Something about work calling about contracts and how it had been brought to his attention that his assistant had overlooked some files that needed to be approved.

This, of course, this was a blatant lie. Work had been piling up due to his assistant, but it was because he had quit for "health reasons," but Chief Han was none-the-wiser and gave Jumin a knowing smile, understanding how dedicated his son was to his work while his girlfriend's plastered smile slipped into a brief frown before returning to her phony expression as he exited the glass doors. A small sigh of relief overtook him after he stepped out onto the sidewalk and saw called his driver Mr. Kim parked on the curb. All Jumin wanted to do was go home for the evening and have a nice glass of wine with his beloved Elizabeth the 3rd.

Thanks to Driver Kim's expert driving, they were home within minutes. The cool elevator ride up to his penthouse suite was a more relaxing atmosphere to him than the stuffy, gourmet restaurant bathroom, each chime of the floor buttons more soothing than the last. With Elizabeth the 3rd curled up on the ottoman, Jumin was breaking into his second bottle of Merlot a couple hours later when there was a knock on his door.

"Who is it at this time of night?" Jumin mumbled before hearing the familiar, grating voice on the other side. The headache was back. "What do you want?"

"I came to see if you were alright. You left dinner in quite a hurry," the woman spoke in an almost mock-concern. Jumin let out a long sigh before stumbling towards the door.

"I'm fine."

"I don't believe that. I want to see you with my own eyes."

"Who let you up here?" Jumin asked, which roughly translated into, 'who do I have to fire so that you never come here again?'.

"Just some security guards. I told them you and your father's name, and they let me upstairs right away."

"Does my father know you're here?"

"I don't tell your father everything. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself," she replied coyly.

"Then you can 'take care yourself' and call yourself a cab," Jumin offered in a cold rebuttal, which was met with some dramatic whining.

"Please let me see if you're alright." This went on for five more minutes, each immature wine more pathetic than the last. Finally, Jumin had had enough.

"...If I let you see that I'm okay, will you go?" he finally asked, staring at the woman through his peephole.

"Certainly," she smiled. Jumin did not trust that smile, but if it could make her go away faster... Against his better judgement, he reluctantly opened the door just enough to show his face, but her small, lithe form managed to wedge its way into the door-frame and push past him.

"You have a lovely place, almost as big as your father's penthouse. I wonder what else is..." she trailed off with a seductive grin before she noticed the wine bottle on the counter. "Ooh, a Château Pétrus, very classy. I'll have some to drink myself."

"There. You see I'm alright. Now leave," Jumin grumbled, but she ignored him as she attempted to force open the Château Pétrus 1846. Pop! The cork went flying as wine gushed out of the bottle the woman held awkwardly near her legs.

"Whoops! I spilled wine all over the floor. I'm so messy," she smiled awkwardly, trying to make herself look as unkempt and uncouth as possible, which confused Jumin greatly.

"Just leave it to the maid and leave before you cause any more trouble," Jumin frowned irritably, already pushing way past his patience with this woman.

"Trouble?" she frowned before adopting another coy smile. "What a perfect name for me." She then boldly took his drink, which was already slipping out of his hand, before setting it down on the counter and leaning in to roughly place her lips on his. It felt like kissing a dead fish.

"I believe this is very inappropriate, and I think you should leave before I call security," Jumin spoke quickly, trying to regain lost ground. Instead of frowning and being upset, the woman kept her sexy countenance.

"Stop pretending to be shy and just tell me how much you like me. You're playing hard to get, right? If you're trying to get my attention, you've got it," she said silkily, her words laced with lust. "I saw how long you were staying in the bathroom. You were thinking of me while you were in there, weren't you? Naughty boy~" Jumin couldn't help but recoil in disgust, her words twisting, distorting, unrelenting. "So just embrace me. I want you to hold me all night long."

 _"Don't touch me. I don't like being touched."_ He wanted to shout, but his voice was muffled as she stuck her tongue down his throat, violating his already small, shrinking personal space. He didn't even realize he was unconsciously backing up until he fell backwards onto his bed. He tried to move his arms, but his mind was barely lucid. Through the numbness of alcohol, he felt her agile frame land expertly on top of him, when he wanted to do nothing more than to kick her off the bed, but his body refused to move the way he wanted to. He felt her long talons encircling around his neck like a vulture, scraping against his jugular as she hastily undid his tie. He could already feel his mind slipping away, trying to force down his torrent of emotions as limbs were tangled and caught, like some drugged, wild animal desperate to escape.

"God! You're a rock until the end, just like a statue. Fine. Whatever. I'm not interested in love," he heard her scowl at his unfeeling attitude before resuming her sickeningly sweet tone. "You don't have to do anything. Just let me be with you. What's so important about showing your love, anyways? What matters is that we're together."

Next thing he remembered was the painful feeling of a hangover and his striped shirt being wrinkled and missing a couple of buttons. There was also a strange, relieved dampness in his groin that made him feel particularly unclean when he stumbled towards the shower that morning. Bits of water dribbled from his long messy hair that clung to his forehead as he stood under the steady stream of water that had long gone cold. What ever had happened last night had felt like a nightmare, and as he stepped out of the shower, he was almost convinced it was until he saw the culprit sitting on the corner of the bed.

"Good morning, Jumin. Did you sleep well? I know I sure did," the woman gave him a sly wink before contently stretching her arms out. "You were quite the beast last night. Guess those rumors had you all wrong." She paused for a moment, noticing Jumin was starting to rub his wrists unconsciously. "Sorry I had to tie you to the headboard. I just couldn't keep your hands off of me." Jumin gave her a blank look before noticing the angry, red marks littering the sides of his wrists like shackles.

" _Leave. Now_ ," Jumin said in his coldest, most intimidating voice he could muster.

"What? No breakfast? Am I nothing but a one-night stand to you?" she exclaimed.

"Leave now, or I will call the police," he stated darkly, a little more firmly this time.

"And tell them what? That the great Jumin Han called over his father's girlfriend to his penthouse suite before forcing himself on her, his own father's girlfriend? Security already knows that I'm here. I told them you already called me." She went back to pulling her black stockings up her thighs. "Besides, you're not blameless in this situation. I saw you. You enjoyed it. You were as hard as a rock and moaning in ecstasy along with me. You are just as guilty as I am."

A sickening lurch pulled from Jumin in the pit of his stomach as he stared up at the woman. Perhaps it was leftover from his hangover, but it felt way more intense than any amount of alcohol consumption had ever caused.

"Don't tell your father about this, 'kay? It'll be our little secret," she had whispered sultrily into his ear, wine still laced in her breath as she left the penthouse suite. Jumin was so aghast with her behavior, he didn't even have the strength to bother telling her that going to his father would be worthless. He had never before believed when he had said that the women in his life were no good, so why would he choose to believe his son now?

His mind began working as he dead-bolted the door, processing the clothes discarded on the floor as annoying obstacles before he threw them haphazardly into the trash, but not before retrieving his cellphone out of the back pocket. He leaned in to checked the RFA messenger. Two missed calls from V, four missed texts from Rika. Deciding to call his friends back later, Jumin punched one of his speed dials and listened to the dial-tone.

"Mr. Kim...? Please call Bed, Bath, and Behold and tell them I want their finest bed delivered today, one without a headboard," Jumin ordered calmly. "Also, clear all my morning appointments." Then he hung up. He really did need to get a new assistant. Preferably, an unattractive, male assistant.

He was almost done cleaning up before he spotted the wine spilled on the ground and decided to drain the Château Pétrus 1846 down the sink, suddenly in the mood for champagne instead of Merlot. After finding Elizabeth the 3rd sitting on the couch in the living room, he sat next to her and ran his fingers through her soft, therapeutic, Persian fur. Then he poured himself a glass of champagne, trying to fill the hollow ache he felt inside.


	10. One Hundred

**When it comes to happily ever after, Luciel certainly got the lion's share. Not only was he able to get his brother back, but he found love too, so everything's all good... right? Takes place after Secret Ending 2. Reset theory.  
**

 **Chapter 10: One Hundred  
**

As a secret agent and a genius hacker, Luciel was used to coming across secrets worth their weight in gold, secrets that others would kill for. Even his real name was a secret, a treasure he had kept hidden from everyone except for only four people. Then came the day that he heard something that wasn't meant for his ears.

He had just finished up wrapping up his engagement party with MC, who had patiently waited until his brother, Saeran, had enough time to heal from his trauma drug abuse before they had announced their engagement. In fact, she had insisted that the party be the official inauguration of him being accepted into the RFA. Saeyoung was on cloud-nine. All the people that he loved together in one room, with no secrets holding them back, no facades or false names. He was working at a hundred percent! After all those years in darkness, he could finally be Saeyoung again because he had finally seen the light.

He heard a soft stirring come from his sleeping fiancee, who had quickly dozed off after the party that he had carried to his bed before she rolled over and snuggled into his chest. Saeyoung gave her a warm smile and pulled her close, tangling his hands into her russets of brown hair as she leaned into his touch unconsciously before letting out a soft sigh. She was the reason he had light in the darkness, the light that lead him to his brother, and eventually his happy ending. Finally, he was happy.

"Alright then, that's Seven's route, and I managed to get a Good Ending too," spoke a disembodied voice.

 _Huh?_

"And I've purchased all the After Endings and Secret Endings, so I guess that I've done them all..."

 _Wait. What's going on?_ Suddenly, Saeyoung had the ominous feeling that he was being watched, and this was incredibly unnerving to a guy who had multiple layers of security and was trained in stealth. Where had that voice come from?

 _ **Restoration: 20%  
**_

There was something missing, something that he had forgot, but he couldn't think of what it was. It was like an itch inside his brain, squirming and wriggling at the back of his mind. What was it? What had he missed?

"But my album's not finished. I want to complete this game at a hundred percent," the voice continued. Suddenly, his fiancee's sleeping body began to vanish next to him.

"MC!" Saeyoung called out, but it was too late. Her body had already disappeared into ones and zeros. A numb ache enveloped him, replacing the shock and panic. It was happening again. He had to do something! Ignoring the emotions already welling up to the surface, he shot into action. This time, he would stop it! He had to! His fingers flicked, punched, and pressed all the hacking equipment back to life, things he had shut down after his retirement. Even the most advanced, high-speed computers he had built from scratch, it felt like an eternity to wait for their log-on screens as their respective company icons flashed into view. He grew incredibly antsy while he waited.

 _ **Restoration: 47%**_

What else could he do? Who, or what, could help him now? Then it clicked. His brother! Even after the Mint Eye incident, Saeran was still an experienced with computers as he was. Two hackers were better than one! Without a second thought, Saeyoung sprinted towards Vanderwood's old bedroom that he had outfitted for Saeran when he had moved in.

"Saeran, wake up! Something's wrong! MC just-!" He stopped, noticing that he hand was phasing through his brother's shoulder, which was currently breaking apart like a coded hologram. "No... No! Nononononononono! Stop! God, NO! Please! STOP! Not him! Not my brother!" He had just gotten him back! Why!? Why was this happening?!

He cried as the last bits of his brother sifted through his fingers like sand, only instead of falling to the ground, it rose towards the ceiling before disappearing entirely. Instead of collapsing like a broken robot, he used his anguish to drive him, his anger fueling him to continue on.

 _ **Restoration: 77%**_

"It's okay if I hurt them, right? I mean, I already gave them all their happy endings first."

The hacker typed furiously against his keyboard, so much so he thought he would end up damaging the keyboard by making the keys stick or ruin the sensor indicators. He needed to trace where the voice was coming from. His phone? Possibly. Loading the old RFA chatroom onto his phone, he plugged it into his CPU and began tracing any stray or unusual signals. Then he saw it, a signal so faint that even the most advanced hackers could have barely missed it. Luckily for him, Agent 707 was an excellent hacker.

 _This is what happens when you when you hurt other people!_ Saeyoung thought as he punched in a long stream of code before pressing the return key. A couple of seconds passed. Nothing happened. Checking to see if his computer froze, he exited out of some of his unnecessary diagnostic reports and pressed it again. Everything on his monitor was fully functional, so why hadn't the virus uploaded? Had he lost the signal?

Then he saw the end of his cord. The phone had vanished, and the rest of the world around him quickly began to follow suit. It crumbled away into a world filled with a dark abyss illuminated by streams of green codes.

 _ **Restoration: 95%**_

"Why should I feel guilty? After all, it's only a game. They're AIs. It's not real."

Saeyoung slumped back in his roller office chair. He had failed. Again. Someone had beaten him at his own game, and now he was going to have to pay the price.

 _A game... That's right..._ Saeyoung thought with a small, broken smile. _It's only... just... a game..._

 _ **Restoration: 100% Complete**_

 **RESET**


	11. Mixed Messages

**MC has some exciting news for Jumin, but Jumin is incredibly dense and doesn't get the message.  
**

 **Chapter 11: Mixed Messages  
**

After working with Jumin Han for two years, Jaehee had adopted a similar lifestyle that was run by an ironclad work schedule. Clock into work, morning meetings, answer phones, track down paperwork, sign paperwork, gather resources for projects, have more meetings about said projects. The only break she could get was lunch, which would be either her eating in the company cafeteria or running to the convenience story for a quick grab-and-go lunch, and even then it could be still filled with paperwork. Regardless, it was a standard schedule she had adapted to until she received an unusual phone call at nine o'clock that morning that threw it completely off its axis.

Which was why she was currently standing outside of a girls lavatory inside a Dunking Coffee holding a Saerom Pharmacy bag. Wearing a scarf and a pair of sunglasses, the executive assistant sneaked her way towards the front of the girls bathroom and knocked on the door.

"MC, it's me," Jaehee called out and a couple of seconds later, she heard the door unlock and was greeted by her friend before quickly being pulled inside.

"Thanks for doing this, Jaehee, especially since you're so busy. I know you had to come all the way out here for this, so I really appreciate it," MC said apologetically, taking the convenient store bag from her.

"It's fine. I made sure I wasn't followed." The assistant was used to running odd errands like this all the time for Mr. Han, and understood how hard it was for MC to go out alone without being hounded by reporters or accompanied by her bodyguards. Honestly, she was surprised that MC had managed to get away from her security detail for so long. Ever since Mr. Han had proposed at their last RFA party, their story had become a whirlwind romance that ended up on the front page of every major newspaper and magazine. Even E! wanted to do a reality show on them and their lives. It had shocked her that MC had texted her in the morning to do a personal errand, mainly because MC never asked her to do favors, but because of that Jaehee felt more willing to do so. MC was always so courteous to her and was one of the few people that saw her as a person and not Mr. Han's mindless, robotic assistant.

"I'm sorry." The sudden apology jarred Jaehee out of her thoughts.

"What for?" Jaehee asked her quizzically. MC was unable to contain the giggles bubbling up from her stomach as she laughed behind the stall door.

"I have a feeling you'll have a lot of baby-related projects in the near future." Jaehee's shock was soon replaced by a composed smile.

"It's fine. Honestly, I'd love to do anything that isn't cat-related anymore. I'm sure these projects will more likely be a better contribution to society than cat wine." They shared a chuckle as MC stepped out of the bathroom stall to wash her hands. After MC had wrapped up her pregnancy test with a paper towel -and she had offered her congratulations- was when Jaehee asked, "So when do you plan to tell Mr. Han the good news?"

"Oh, I've got a few ideas," the coordinator grinned mischievously. "But don't tell anyone else yet. I want this to be a secret from everyone until I tell him." Jaehee offered her a small smile, honored that she was part of MC's inner circle.

"My lips are sealed."

* * *

Jumin was elbow deep in paperwork around lunchtime. With a sirloin steak on one side of his desk and an accordion file folder sitting on the other, it appeared like it was going to be a long work day. That was to be expected, since Thursday was always when he received a large amount of C&R reports and contracts to go through before the weekend began, and for some reason Assistant Kang was nowhere to be found. What he didn't certainly expect was to see his wife during their usual lunch-hour date, since she appeared particularly ill during breakfast.

"Guess who?" A sweet voice that flowed like honey caused him look up from the piles of contracts to see his wife's head peaking in through his office door.

"MC! I didn't know you were coming to see me," Jumin exclaimed before standing up and welcoming his wife in a warm embrace.

"I thought I'd surprise you."

"But you were in such low spirits this morning. Are you sure it's okay for you to up and about?"

"O-Oh, that. Don't worry about that. I think some of the seafood I had last night just didn't agree with me," she blushed, her cheeks dusted with a hint of embarrassment that spread all the way to her cute ears. _It's nice to see that she's feeling better,_ he thought with a soft smile, making a mental note to tell their chef to prepare a dish with fresher, organic ingredients and less seasoning for dinner before she continued, "Anyways, I can't stay long. I only came here to give you this." She held up a paper sack that Jumin discovered contained a small candy bar and a bag of chips. "I got it from the vending machine downstairs, since I know you've always wanted to try them."

"Thank you, MC," Jumin smiled at the fact that his wife bought this for him, knowing that he had a certain fondness for commoner items like vending machines, which for some reason still alluded him in how they functioned. It was the little details that she noticed about him when they were together, her unique insight to his sheltered world. That was one of the main things he loved about her. Before he could delve any further into such bliss, an abrupt ringing assaulted his ears that he recognized to be the office phone, invading the seemingly impenetrable bubble that seemed to surround them. Jumin took a second to bask in his wife's warm presence before sighing irritably. "Normally, I would ignore it, but I am waiting for an important call."

"It's alright. I was just dropping by before I went window-shopping with Driver Kim," MC waved amiably. "I'm just going to check in with Jaehee for a moment, then I'll take off, so be sure to let me know if you need anything before then." He watched her walk out the door, passing a faceless custodial staff member making quietly making his way through the cubicles outside for trash pick-ups. Sensing that he was going to have trash bins filled with shredded documents, Jumin pulled his bin to the side and tipped the paper bag MC had given him over so he could add the paper sack and wrappers to the trash. Right as he reached for the Merchey's Chocolate bar was when he noticed a small, oblong device had also rolled out of the bag. It was plastic and had a purple cap on one side and a blue plus icon on the other. _It must be some sort of commoner thing. Is it a potato chip clip?_ Jumin thought as he held up the curious device. He was a little unnerved that there was still so much he didn't know about the world. Being privileged did have its drawbacks.

As the custodian knocked on his door, Jumin sighed and chucked it with rest of his trash before handing him the waste bin. Right when he left was when Jumin noticed that MC was still standing, rather expectantly, outside of his office.

"MC, you still haven't left yet?" Jumin asked as MC uncharacteristically fidgeted in place.

"I... umm... well, did you see it?" she stammered hopefully.

"See what? The odd device you gave me?" MC gave him a small nod. "Oh, I thought that was leftover clip for the potato chip bag, so I threw it away." It was then that he began to notice his wife's skin turned an alabaster shade and acted like she was about to faint. "MC, are you alright? You look rather pale. Maybe I should send for a doctor-"

"I'm fine! Everything's fine! I just... remembered I left my phone in the limo! Gotta go! Love you! Bye!" MC smiled wanly and quickly giving him a peck on the cheek before she bolted out of his office, leaving behind a slightly bewildered Jumin Han.

* * *

In retrospect, MC should have guessed that her husband had no idea what a pregnancy test looked like. Aside from the fact he was sheltered, the man had never been involved with any woman long enough for the subject to even come up. She would have gladly cleared it up for him had he not thrown it away. She had to chase after the janitor and awkwardly explain that she had to dig into his trash for an important keepsake before lying that she thought she had accidentally thrown away a Duffany earring. That was an exciting ten minutes.

Sitting down from a long day of shopping for clothes, she knew that her next attempt would work for sure. All she had to do was wait until Jumin got home. Gratefully, she didn't end up waiting too long. An hour before dinner was when she heard the front door to the penthouse click and push open.

"I'm home," she heard a voice call out as Elizabeth the 3rd suddenly got up from the ottoman and trotted over to her owner before rubbing her face against his feet. She turned around from her seat on the couch to see her husband lovingly scratch the Persian cat behind the ears before scooping her up into his arms.

"Hey."

"Hey," he greeted her by leaning down to give her a chaste kiss. "How are you feeling?"

"Good. A little tired from all the shopping, but that's to be expected," she shrugged, deciding to segue into her next plan of attack. "Hey Jumin, I just got a new dress for the Chairman's ball, and I was wondering if I could hear your opinion on it."

"Certainly," Jumin nodded before leaning his head on the palm of his hand. The corners of his mouth tilted upward as he added, "though I'm sure you would look good in anything that you wear."

A small blush tinted MC's cheeks as she lifted off the white box and wrapping paper before holding up a small lace dress, the kind of dress usually reserved for christenings.

"That's not the dress you ordered."

"It's not." She began searching his eyes for traces of excitement, watching for the gears to click together. Instead she received disappointment as her husband's expression turned into dissatisfaction.

"Unbelievable. This won't do at all."

"It... it won't?" MC blinked, a little deflated from his comment.

"I'll take the necessary measures so you can have that exchanged for a worthy gift." Jumin said as he got up.

"Wait, Jumin, you don't need to. Don't you want to talk about it?" But it was too late. He was already on his phone speaking to a representative of Sacks 5th Avenue. A brief bit of nausea overtook her followed by a sinking feeling in her chest. Did he not want it? Was she quick to assume that, just because they were married, that he wanted kids?

* * *

Ever since dinner, MC had been a bit more quiet and reserved than she usually was. Normally, she would go into her day with great enthusiasm, but she seemed particularly dejected this evening. She had hardly touched her roasted salmon. Perhaps she was tired or not feeling well again. After checking his messages, he was going to make an appointment so that MC could receive a proper check-up.

As he was about to check the messages on the RFA chatroom to catch up on any missed conversations, Jumin looked over and couldn't help but fall in love with her all over again. She looked so adorable sitting peacefully on the sofa with Elizabeth the 3rd, who was currently curled up in her lap and purring like the motor on his yacht. It seems like lately the two had always been inseparable, Elizabeth the 3rd finally taking a particular interest in her after six months of living together. It seemed like the perfect candid shot to open a conversation with as he logged on the RFA servers.

 _[Jumin Han has entered the chatroom]_

 **Jumin Han:** Elizabeth the 3rd has certainly been more affectionate with MC lately.

[Jumin then posted a slightly blurry photo of MC watching TV with Elizabeth the 3rd coiled up comfortably on her lap.]

 **707:** Nice to know that the girls are getting along. **  
707:** I thought there was going to be a massive cat-fight when MC started living with you. **  
707:** Ellie would be sad when she lost, and then I could take her home to live with me.

 **Jumin Han:** Never.  
 **Jumin Han:** Even if there had been such an outcome, I would rather send her to Jaehee

 **707:** Awww ;~;

 **Yoosung*:** Poor Jaehee.

 **ZEN:** God... **  
ZEN:** It's bad enough that you converted MC into liking cats, but did you have a post a picture of the damn fur-ball too?  
 **ZEN:** And what the hell did you do to MC? She looks miserable in that photo.

 **Jumin Han:** She looks perfectly fine.

 **Jumin Han:** Well maybe she's tired. She did have a little bit of an off day.

 **ZEN:** Off day? Like how?

 **Jumin Han:** Well, for one, she didn't feel very well this morning.  
 **Jumin Han:** Then she tried to pretend she felt better despite that she looked so pale when she stopped by my office for lunch.  
 **Jumin Han:** And when she went shopping and when she came home, the store made an error and delivered her the wrong dress.

 **ZEN:** Wait, you made her still meet you for lunch, despite the fact that she didn't feel very well, and you let her go _shopping_ afterwards? _By herself!?_ You heartless bastard!

 _[MC has joined the chatroom]  
_

 **MC:** Zen, I came by to see him because I was dropping off some stuff for him. Jumin didn't even want me to go out today. He wanted me to go see a doctor. **  
MC:** Jumin, don't worry about the dress. It's not that big of a deal.

 **Yoosung*:** Why? What was wrong with the dress?

 **Jumin Han:** Not only was it the incorrect size, it was from a completely different department.

 **Yoosung*:** What department was it?

 **Jumin Han:** The children department.

 **ZEN:** Wait, what? That makes no sense.

 **Yoosung*:** Yeah, I mean, MC is short and all, but she's not that short.

 **707:** Ya. Even Yoosung's not that short.

 **Yoosung*:** HEY!

 **707:** Still tho, maybe MC has the ability to clone herself into a mini-version of herself.

 **ZEN:** How small is the dress?

 **707:** Ooo if it's small enough, you could dress Elizabeth the 3rd up to look like a princess.

 **Jumin Han:** While I agree with you on her royalty, I would not demean Elizabeth the 3rd so lowly as to have her dressed up in human clothing.  
 **Jumin Han:** Size wise, it was usually the kind of dress you would order for a christening or baptism.

 **MC:** That was the whole point. I figured, since you were Catholic, you would need one of these.

 **Jumin Han:** MC, I don't understand. Why do you think we need a christening dress?

 **ZEN:** Wait a minute... MC! Are you-? Are you expecting?!

 **Jumin Han:** No. We put away the extra dishes because we weren't expecting any company.

 **MC:** Well...

 **Jumin Han:** Wait, are we expecting company? Did something get overlooked on my schedule?  
 **Jumin Han:** I must make a memo for Jaehee to look into this.

 **707:** OMG MC has a bun in the oven!

 **Jumin Han:** ...How could she have a bun in the oven when we just finished dinner?

 **ZEN:** Oh. My. God. I cannot believe you are this dense.

 **Jumin Han:** Though I guess if we are expecting company, I should get the chef to prepare something fresh.

 **ZEN:** For the love of-! Jumin! MC is _pregnant!_

 **Jumin Han:**...What?

 **MC:** I wanted to tell you to figure it out earlier, but I guess I wasn't very good at being subtle.

 **Jumin Han:**...  
 **Jumin Han:**... **  
** **Jumin Han:**..

 **MC:**...Jumin?

 **Jumin Han:** ...  
 **Jumin Han:** I...

 _[Jumin Han has left the chatroom]_

 **ZEN:** I think that's the first time Mr. Trust-fund kid has ever been rendered speechless.

 **Yoosung*:** Congrats, MC! I'm so happy for you!

 **707:** OMG the pitter-patter of little feet is going to be running around Jumin's penthouse!

 **ZEN:** Can't believe that jerk is human enough to have kids.

 **MC:** Thanks, you guys. I'd stay, but I think I need to go talk to Ju-

 _[MC has left the chatroom]_


	12. Nutcracker V & the Mouse Queen - Eve Eve

**The RFA holds another Christmas party, only this one is held in Jumin's country house and has an interesting holiday twist.  
**

 **Chapter 12: Nutcracker V and the Mouse Queen {Christmas Eve Eve}  
**

Out of all the things MC loved about Christmas, decorating the tree had to be her favorite tradition. Certain ornaments were designated for certain trees, since it was too much of a hassle to go out and cut a tree, but they were never arranged the same and there were always new add-ons every year. Therefore, every tree was special and unique, and that's what she loved about it. It was like every Christmas she could start with a blank canvas and put together a truly spectacular masterpiece.

"MC, you don't have to decorate the tree. We have staff for that," Jumin frowned as he walked into the parlor, catching her in the act of putting up a few more Christmas tree ornaments with the servants.

"Just putting on the finishing touches," MC reached out and placed a glass ballerina on a branch, undaunted by Jumin's disapproving stare before standing back in satisfaction. "There. Now it's perfect!"

"MC! The shipment of cocoa beans just came in!" a voice called out in the hallway.

"Thanks, Yoosung! I'll be right there," MC answered back before quickly ushering towards the kitchen, taking that excuse as an opportunity to flee Jumin's humbug attitude and give him some alone time. It was normal for him to be a little irritated during this time of year, since he always seemed to fall into a slump during the holiday -he was already pouring himself a glass of pinot noir- but this Christmas seemed to put him in a particularly despondent mood. There was just no life in his eyes. It was like staring at two coals. Perhaps it was the commercialism of the holiday or the fact that his father always made a spectacle of C&R with every company Christmas party, but MC didn't have time to dwell on speculations now.

It was almost time for the RFA Christmas party, and everyone was busy with the preparations. It was the day before Christmas Eve, and she still had plenty to prepare for. In fact, she was so busy with her tasks that she didn't realize that she had gathered a mountain of objects before she stumbled over Elizabeth the 3rd, who was fondly rubbing herself against MC's legs. An arm hastily wrapped itself around her waist and caught her before the goods went flying erratically across the floor.

"Whoa! Careful, MC. Wouldn't want you to get hurt before Christmas Eve," Zen warned her as he took some of the bags out of her hands. "Here. Let me take some of these."

"Thank you, Zen."

"Damn cat! Hey Jumin, you...!" Zen hissed scornfully before sneezing. "-bastard! Get your fur-ball out of here! She nearly got MC killed!"

"Elizabeth the 3rd was only showing her affection towards her," Jumin spoke coolly before taking another sip from his wine glass. "And I am not leaving her alone with the housekeeper during Christmas."

"Then at least have the common courtesy to-! ACHOO! -put her in your own damn bedroom!"

"It would help keep things to run smoothly," MC reluctantly offered him a small smile before Jumin let out a sigh.

"I suppose I wouldn't want you or Elizabeth the 3rd getting hurt during the preparations."

"Thank you, Jumin."

"What?! No concern for the rest of us?!" Zen sniffed angrily, but Jumin paid him no mind as he gently scooped up his Persian cat and left. Zen shot daggers at his retreating back before grabbing a wad of tissues from the counter. "Seriously, that guy has no regard for other people!"

"Well, even if Jumin hadn't brought his cat, MC should really slow down," Yoosung added, trying to diffuse the situation. "If you keep working this hard, you're going to hurt yourself at this rate, MC."

"I'm fine, Yoosung, really. It's just that there's so much to do, and it's not even Christmas yet!" MC offered him a cheerful yet weary smile as she moved into the kitchen. Due to her crummy GPS on her phone and the distance it was from her apartment to Jumin's country house, MC was already running behind schedule. Luciel offered to fix it, but she just never found the time to get around to it. "What's the weather report say, Jaehee?" Jaehee switched from whisking the meringue to turning off the timer on the oven, which was filled to the brim with Christmas cookies and other holiday confections, which smelled heavenly as she pulled them out of the oven. Maybe becoming a chef or opening up a cafe would be a good fallback for Jaehee.

"The weatherman says we'll received a light snowfall tonight," the assistant spoke, causing MC to beam even brighter.

"Excellent! I was hoping for a white Christmas. I just love snow," MC grinned.

"Me too! You can have snowball fights or have a snowman building contest," Yoosung agreed eagerly. "My mom and I would do that all the time, and I would always win."

"Don't you think it's because your mother let you win?" Zen replied with a smirk.

"No! I was just better at it!" Yoosung argued but reluctantly pulled out his phone anyways. "I'm just going to call home and check up on the family..." After punching speed-dial, the blonde stepped out of the room with added haste to get away from Zen's prying ears. The trio shared a small chuckle before MC heard the front door chime as it opened.

"...ing freezing outside! My hacking fingers are asleep!" complained a nasal voice as a swift chill filled the air, snowflakes blowing in from outside. MC followed the voice until she was greeted by a welcome and familiar sight.

"Luciel!" MC exclaimed excitedly, dropping whatever task she had been doing before she rushed over to give her friend a hug. His hair was parted on one side and jelled back slightly so his red curls didn't hang so much over his eyes, but it still had a chaotic look to it as snowflakes sprinkled his hair like a card with too much glitter on it.

"Ahh so warm," he sighed contently into the hug. "Like an electric blanket. I'll have to bring you home with me so I don't catch a cold."

"I thought you said you weren't coming this year!" MC beamed brightly, her eyes alight with cheer and Christmas spirit that made even Luciel Choi briefly forget his Scrooge-like attitude towards Christmas.

"Yeah. Don't you usually lock yourself up this time of year?" Zen added before offering to take his friend's black winter coat.

"I thought I'd get away from all the last minute Christmas shoppers and let Vanderwood lock up the toy store for the night."

"And when you say 'get away,' you mean sneak?" MC eyed him coyly.

"I merely used my secret agent skills and vanished before the enemy could detect my presence, and, technically, it isn't Christmas yet. It's Christmas Eve Eve. As soon as I help you with the festivities, it's back to the bunker."

"Well, regardless, I'm so glad that you're here. It's so good to see you!" MC hugged him warmly, noticing that he still had resident traces of Honey Buddha chip crumbs coating his hoodie.

"So how's Mr. CEO Chairman-to-be?" MC's smile drooped slightly but still held a note of happiness in it.

"He could be better. He acts just as stoic as ever, but he seems more... melancholy than usual."

"Oh, I think I know the reason," the hacker said knowingly. "He's probably bummed out that V couldn't make it this year."

"They're childhood friends, so I guess that would make sense," MC nodded before stopping to think for a moment. "You know, he didn't come to the RFA party this year either. I wonder what could have happened to him?"

"Oh, you know V. Always traveling into areas with bad cell reception. I'm sure he'll turn up soon enough. He said he really wanted to come this year, so who knows? Maybe we'll get a Christmas miracle."

"It would be nice to have the whole RFA together for Christmas..." MC trailed off with a soft smile. Now that she thought about, she didn't think she had ever met V outside of the chatroom. He was kind of the RFA's ghost, drifting in and out of the chatroom like a guardian angel without ever touching those on the mortal plane. _I wonder if he looks like his avatar..._ MC thought to herself before she saw a small, red Christmas ornament bag out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm not usually one for presents, but here. Merry Christmas," Luciel gave her laugh that didn't quite meet his eyes as he awkwardly pushed the present into her hands.

"Thank you, Luciel. That's so sweet of you," MC gaped as she held the shimmering bag's strings tightly in her hands. "I feel a little guilty though. I want to open it, but it's not Christmas yet."

"Oh, I think you'll want to open this one up before Christmas. Don't worry," he gave her a small wink. "I give you permission to open it early~"

"Ooh, is Seven handing out presents right now?" Yoosung asked, popping his head in the room as the group gathered around.

"Ho ho ho, it is I, Agent 707, Defender of Justice, here to bestow upon gifts for all!" Luciel laughed, returning to his usual goofy demeanor. "For the college student..." he handed him a small, green Christmas bag. The blonde eagerly ransacked the bag, pushing past the tissue paper until he fished out a much smaller green and yellow bag.

"Honey Buddha Chips! Thanks, Seven!" Yoosung exclaimed excitedly. "I'm going to make these last until New Year's."

"And for you, Zen," Luciel handed the actor a candy-cane striped bag.

"...Another bag of Honey Buddha chips?" Zen frowned. "These are actually really bad for you."

"And for you, Jaehee." The hacker held out a white reindeer bag, but the brunette was hesitant to take it from him.

"Let me guess: a bag of Honey Buddha chips?" Jaehee gave him a deadpanned expression.

"How did you know?!" Luciel gasped dramatically. "Are you a wizard with psychic powers?"

"It hardly seems psychic when all of your other gifts have been Honey Buddha chip bags," Jumin said pointedly as he stood at the top of the stairs. "If my bag is Honey Buddha chips, I don't want them."

"You can't say that's true yet. MC still hasn't even opened hers yet," Yoosung defended.

"It's probably another bag of Honey Buddha chips," Zen rolled his eyes.

"Well, even if it is, I wouldn't mind. It's the thought that counts, right?" MC gave him a small smile, still grateful that the hacker even thought of giving them gifts for Christmas, since he didn't do anything during the holidays.

"Ahh MC, you're the only one that gets me," Luciel sighed dramatically.

"Hey, if you guys don't want your chips, I'll take them off your hands," Yoosung offered with a shy shrug. Without hesitation, the RFA piled their chip bags into Yoosung's arms.

"Aww you hurt my feelings," the redhead whined. "And I made sure to specially pick out all of your bags, from size all the way down to crunch factor. Please at least tell me that you like my gift, MC."

"I have to open it first, Luciel," MC laughed before she dug through her gift bag, feeling around the stuffed bits of tissue paper. To her surprise, instead of feeling a plastic bag loudly crinkle in her hands, her fingers clasped around a wooden figure that she tugged carefully out of the Christmas bag. The figure was a male, wooden doll about a foot long and had a tall, ebony hat that almost fully covered his light, almost teal colored hair and mint painted eyes. His body had a black vest under a long green silver overcoat with silver trim and glued-on emerald buttons, along with legs painted white and black for pants and boots.

"It's a nutcracker."

"What the hell?! Why does MC get a nutcracker, and we all get Honey Buddha chips?" Zen exclaimed irritably.

"It does seem a bit prejudiced," Jaehee added.

"I ran out of Honey Buddha chips," Luciel shrugged sheepishly while Zen tossed him a very pissed off glare.

"Bullshit! You forgot to get her something and just threw the first thing you could find in your toy story into the bag, didn't you?"

"I don't care. I love it. Thank you, Luciel," MC shook her head, enamored with the fine craftsmanship. The hair was as soft as feathers between her fingertips, and the eyes, though painted, appeared to almost come alive.

"Let me see!" Yoosung nudged his way through, trying to look over the crowd of people gathered around. Through a stroke of bad luck, he was too eager and lost his balance with arms flailing forward, knocking the toy out of MC's hands.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry, MC! I didn't mean to-!" he cried out in alarm as the party planner carefully picked up the shambles of her nutcracker, who had his tall, ebony hat pop completely off of his head. Now he looked like a nutcracker who was going semi-bald and was in desperate need of a comb-over.

"It's fine, Yoosung. Nothing a little glue can't fix," MC tried to assuage the frantic gamer while also trying not to show the worry in her eyes. She had just gotten this wonderful gift from Luciel, a guy who's idea of a holiday gift was Honey Buddha chips and hacking TV screens to show exploding cat fireworks, and she had already ruined it. Determined to find a temporary solution, she went into one of the empty Christmas boxes as an idea formed while she pulled out leftover ornament hooks. Then she carefully bend the wires around the metal buttons on the sides of the hat and wrapped it around the nutcracker's neck until the rod fit snugly under the nutcracker's chin like a proper soldier's hat. There. Good as new.

"Maybe this is a sign that you should take a break, MC."

"But this is my first official RFA Christmas party, and I want to do my very best. I can't leave all the work to you guys."

"You're not going to be able to attend the Christmas party if you don't," Zen warned her, trying to coerce her into sitting on the sofa. "You look like Jaehee after Jumin makes her take on extra cat projects."

"Yeah, please take a break, MC. I know you want to help continue Rika's legacy, but it's not like we can't get some of this done tomorrow." MC stared down at her feet. She knew Yoosung was trying to cheer her up, but being compared to Rika just made her more aware of how big the shoes were that she had to fill. Her hands around her nutcracker tightened slightly until she felt a soft hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about a thing, MC. I can be you substitute. There's important work to be done here, and I'm not planning on going home just yet, so let the Agent of Justice take care of everything!" Luciel's upbeat attitude and everyone's encouraging words were what finally made her sink down onto the sofa, feeling the full weight of party on her shoulders.

"Maybe I should just... sit down for a moment," MC sighed in exhaustion, deciding to rest her eyes for only a moment.

* * *

It was five 'til midnight when MC woke up again. Someone had draped a small, black fleece blanket with a snowman on it over her, and her head had been resting against the sofa's armrest. Across from her on the coffee table was her nutcracker, who looked as if he was standing watch over her while she slept. The light of the Christmas tree illuminated his emerald buttons and shimmering paint, bringing her a sense of calm.

Tip tap scritch scratch.

MC listen closely as a cold sweat began to build on the back of her neck and run chills down her spin when she froze. In the distance, she spied a ghostly white figure standing across the room from her with two green eyes shimmering brightly in contrast with the darkness. MC's heart began to quicken as the eyes reflected back at her from a dark corner the lights of the Christmas tree had not touched. The figure peered at her from the shadows a moment longer before continuing on, swishing its long white tail. Recognizing the ghostly figure to be Elizabeth the 3rd, MC let out a breathe she didn't know she was holding and sat upright on the sofa.

Now that she was fully awake, MC was suddenly made aware how empty her stomach was from sleeping through dinner as it gurgled audibly. _I think I remember there being some gingerbread cookies in the kitchen. I'm sure the party guests won't notice if a couple are missing..._ MC recalled as she made her way towards the kitchen.

It wasn't until she walked in through the cooking area without staff and RFA members that she realized how large the kitchen actually was. If MC hadn't known better, she would've thought this was a five star restaurant. While most of the food had been put away, bits of food sat on trays covered with silver cutlery and plastic wrap. After doing a bit of snooping, she spied decorated rows of gingerbread men next to a nearly completely gingerbread house. Bingo.

Inhaling the fresh scent, she poured herself a tall glass of milk and consumed the gingerbread cookies that were broken than others. Now she understood why Santa Claus always wanted milk and cookies during his runs. Midnight snacks were the best!

Scritch, scritch, scratch.

She paused in her joyful chewing as she heard a brief scampering alongside the floorboards. She tried to listen in closer when suddenly-

GONG DING DONG BONG!

The sound of the grandfather clock caused MC to let out a startled yelp before instinctively covering her mouth to muffle the sound and to keep the food from flying out of her mouth. The two large hands pointed to the twelve on the clock, signalling the room that Christmas Eve had begun. The decorative moon dial moved with the two hands, displaying a small golden face of the moon surrounded by stars, only the face strangely resembled a certain red-haired agent of justice. MC must have been seeing things because she could have sworn that it winked at her before the twelve gongs of midnight had begun.

After the bells had faded away, MC finished up her glass of milk and cookies before heading to bed. That is, until she heard it. The faintest scurrying of little feet and a voice as faint as a bell chime.

"This shall be a Christmas party no one shall forget..." she heard the little voice speak.

"The savior will be so proud of us after hearing what we've done. She'll probably thank us in person and make us her disciples," whispered another.

"Who's there?" MC called out, but no one was there.

"We just have to put the elixir in the food and everyone will be able to join in the endless party," the voices continued to chatter. _Someone was going to put something in the food? No way in hell was someone going to ruin the party she and the others had worked so hard for!_

"Look I don't know who you are, but you need to leave right-" MC bravely called out before she found herself unable to speak. Staring up at her on the counter top was a little black mouse with beady eyes.

"I think she can hear us..." it spoke, causing her eyes to grow to the size of dinner plates.

"I think she can _understand_ us..." another seemed to sneer. "I can see why Brother Saeran has chosen you." As if being summoned, a large black and white rat with milky black eyes clamored forward before sitting on his hind legs.

"Still... we can't allow you to get in our way. You have yet to be initiated," hissed the Mouse King in an all too familiar voice. "Brothers! Take this girl to be cleansed!"

MC let out a loud shriek, suddenly finding her voice as quick shadows darted out by her feet and on rows of counter-tops. They trickled in like someone had ripped open the wall of a condemned home that was filled with infestation. Grabbing a nearby broom, she anxiously held it up in the air and began to swat any mouse that got too close, but where one mouse was stopped, four others would appear. They marched and followed her to the living room as if lead by the Pied Piper himself, covering the entire carpet with. In her desperate attempt to run away, her broom clattered to the floor by mistake as she misjudge the width of the doorway before landing on top of the couch.

"Shroud your vision, and you shall be saved," they all chanted over and over like a Gregorian choir. Nails of the mice scratched onto the couch as they climbed up the fine upholstery.

 _Where was Elizabeth the 3rd when you needed her?!_ she thought in a cold panic as she hid behind a couch cushion before she beat her head into it. _This can't be real. It must be a dream! Wake up, MC! WAKE UP!  
_

"MC!" She turned and saw a white blur dart towards the mice, causing them to scatter like cockroaches under a flashlight.

"CAT!" they cried out, fleeing in terror at the sight of Elizabeth the 3rd. On top of her sat a wooden figure with a green uniform and mint colored hair. A wooden figure that MC recognized to be none other than the nutcracker she had received for Christmas. He urged the cat to jump on top of the couch before dismounting her like a horse.

"MC, are you alright?!" the nutcracker asked her worriedly.

"How... do you know my name?" MC exclaimed, unable to ask the real questions of 'why are you moving,' 'why are mice talking,' and 'what the hell did I drink last night.'

"There's no time to explain! You have to get out of here!" the nutcracker furiously shook his head, which caused the loose hat to briefly tilt on his head to almost completely falling off before he straightened it out with his wooden hands. This brief comically moment caused her to giggle, but the light moment did not last long as the mice below began to gasp and cry out.

"It's the traitor!" one mouse yelled.

"The traitor!" the other mice exclaimed.

"False prophet!"

"Iscariot!"

"Burn him!"

"Purge him!"

"Cleanse him!"

The mice surrounding the area began to chitter furiously like an angry mob, each name and suggestion more horrible than the last before one voice silenced them all.

 _"You!"_ The leader of the mice hissed in disdain, his voice dripping with hatred and eyes burning with fury. "I should have known you'd come to poison the flock."

"You don't have to do this, Saeran! Just leave her out of this! She's innocent!" the nutcracker pleaded, cautiously holding out his long golden scepter.

"Exactly! Which is why I shall be saving her from _you_ ," Saeran spoke confidently as he stalked towards his prey. "For I may be a mouse, but you are a rat!" With that declaration, he lunged at the nutcracker with fangs open and claws out. He gnashed his long teeth against the wooden scepter the nutcracker wielded, gradually weakening it with every bite as the nutcracker tried to carefully push him back and away from MC, who cowered on the couch next to Elizabeth the 3rd, who hissed and bat down any mouse that tried to get near her.

"I'll break you until you're nothing but a pile of splinters!" the Mouse King roared as he slashed at the nutcracker's eyes with his long, gnarled claws, causing the latter to reel back in pain and drop his pike.

"Nutcracker!" MC cried out as the giant mouse reared back towards the defenseless nutcracker. Right as he was about to launch his fangs into the nutcracker's face, MC instinctively reached out and grabbed the rat in mid-jump before tossing him towards the mantle. He landed with sickening thud against the brick fireplace before crumpling into a heap on the floor, still as the dead. A couple of seconds went by before Elizabeth the 3rd jumped down from the couch and moved towards the still rat as the mice around her dispersed out of shock and fear. After giving him a quick sniff, she gave him a curious bat with her paw before leaping back at the rat's sudden twitch. Unfortunately, MC's intervention had only stunned the rat, not killed him. Still, it seemed to be enough, for the rest of the mice began retreating into their dark corners.

"This... isn't over! By Christmas, everyone... will have joined the eternal paradise... including her!" Saeran declared before limping towards the shadows. After the adrenaline wore off, MC felt a sharp pain enter through her hand followed by a slight dizziness as blood dripped down the palm of her right hand from the teeth marks of the black and white rat.

"MC, are you alright?! You're bleeding!" her nutcracker exclaimed, worry evident in his eyes, which were scratched with visible claw marks and chipped paint.

"What about you? Are you okay?" MC asked him.

"Me...?" he blinked as his wooden jaw dropped slightly, seemed to being thrown for a loop by her concern. "You should worry more about yourself. You're bleeding!"

"I'm fine. It's only... a scratch..." She denied wearily, her movement suddenly becoming more sluggish.

"...? MC!? MC!" The world seemed to grow tall as she fell, her vision spotting and growing heavy so quickly that she didn't even feel herself hit the carpet.

* * *

 **Since Mystic Messenger isn't doing a 2017 Christmas DLC, I thought I might as well do one of my own, only this time it's for V only. I've been meaning to write this chapter series for a while, and I'm so glad I managed to get this out before Christmas. It will have a Good, Bad, and a Normal Ending, so look forward for the days to come. Happy Holidays, everyone!**


	13. Skin Deep

**Summary: A preview teaser for my Mystic Messenger story, "Beauty is Only Skin Deep," Mei-Cho decides it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission and goes to Zen's apartment to cheer him up, despite the risks.  
**

 **Chapter 13: Skin Deep**

 _*[707]: Mayday! Mayday!  
*[707]: MC has gone rogue._

 _*[Yoosung*]: !? 0o0  
*[Yoosung*]: Does that mean MC is involved with the hacker?!_

 _*[707]: Nope. I've been monitoring her phone ever since the hacker logged her into the messenger._

 _*[Jaehee]: Doesn't that violate some sort of privacy law?_

 _*[707]: Nothing is private to me. I am secret agent Seven-Zero-Seven, Defender of Justice and hacker extraordinaire._

 _*[Jaehee]: ... -_-_

 _*[707]: Anyways, I've tracked it down via phone's GPS signal...  
_ _*[707]: It's at Zen's apartment complex._

 _*[Jaehee]: You mean she went to Zen's by herself?!  
*[Jaehee]: __After I explicitly warned her not to?!_

 _*[707]: You sound like you're her mom, Jaehee lol_

 _*[Yoosung*]: Ya lol  
_ _*[Yoosung*]: So how did MC find his place?_

 _*[Jaehee]: His fan-site lists his address so he could receive fan mail. It would be easy to copy his address into Moogle Maps and find his location.  
_ _*[Jaehee]: We need to get some bodyguards down there right away. Who knows what she could be doing there?_

 _*[Yoosung*]: I don't know why you're acting like this, Jaehee. Everyone else is okay with MC visiting Zen's apartment.  
*[Yoosung*]: Heck, I'd love it if the girl of my dreams visited me when I was feeling bad.  
*[Yoosung*]: Too bad I'm forever alone... T0T  
_

 _*[Jaehee]: I'm only concerned as a fan. She might be in league with the hacker._

 _*[707]: I already did background check into her being involved with the hacker and cleared her, and_ _V gave her his stamp of approval. I don't know what more she would need.  
_

 _*[Jaehee]: It's still dangerous for her to be going over there without supervision. What if the newspapers caught wind of_ _ _him having a woman come visit his apartment__ _? People could get the wrong impression and it would_ _ _damage Zen's popularity in the process.  
__

 _*[Yoosung*]: He lives in an apartment complex, right? It's not like it would be strange if she showed up there. People could just think she's a tenant.  
_ _*[Yoosung*]: Plus, even if you sent her over there in a limo with bodyguards, wouldn't that draw more attention to her?  
_

 _*[Jaehee]: It wouldn't if I had gone. It would have been professional._

 _*[Yoosung*]: It still seems a bit over the top. I don't think Zen would really be cool with having Jumin's limo suddenly come over to his place.  
_ _*[Yoosung*]: He'd probably have the driver wait outside in the car for hours just to spite him._

 _*[707]: Anyways, I don't think you have anything to worry about Jaehee.  
*[707]: __If anyone saw Zen and MC together, it might actually boost Zen's popularity._

 _*[Jaehee]: How is that a possibility?_

 _*[Yoosung*]: Wait- IS MC ACTUALLY A GUY?!_

 _*[707] Nope lololol. Still just a girl.  
_ _*[707]: Let's just say that MC knows almost exactly what Zen's going through right now. You heard how he was in the chatroom. None of us will be able to cheer him up like she can._

 _*[Yoosung*]: She kept saying that in the chatroom too. Maybe she injured herself in the past and wants to comfort him?_

 _*[707]:_ _Besides, MC's really smart. She knows how much it would jeopardize Zen's career if he was caught in a scandal, so odds are she is going to be careful. She might even be in disguise._

 _*[Jaehee]: What makes you think that?_

 _*[707]: I saw her with a wig at Rika's apartment._

 _*[Yoosung*]: Why would MC need a wig?_

 _*[707]: Secret~_

 _*[Jaehee]: I guess there's no helping it..._

 _*[Jaehee]:_ The damage has already been done.

 _*[Jaehee]: I just hope that nothing bad will happen because of it..._

* * *

It had been an impulsive decision that turned into adamant resolve. Despite Jaehee's protests inside the chatroom, Mei-Cho was confident she knew what she was doing. She had seen all of the cop shows of people going undercover in order to get information. All she had to do was blend in.

She just hoped that Zen's apartment was wheelchair accessible, otherwise it was going to be a bit more awkward making a grand statement in surprising him. She tugged gently at her dark haired wig, making sure her hair was properly fastened to the wig cap, making slight corrections if a strand of hair got tucked into a clip. Mei-Cho didn't even want to look at the chatroom right now. She had never seen Jaehee explicitly mad before, and Mei-Cho would be lying if she didn't say she was a bit unnerved, if not a little morbidly curious, at what an overtired, fan-girl with access to man richer than God was capable of.

 _Better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission,_ she kept reminding herself, and she had already tried the second option.

Even without everyone being in the dark about her disability, she felt a little insulted that Jaehee insisted on holding Zen's hand through this whole ordeal. Zen was his own person and could make his own decisions. Mei-Cho wasn't a prisoner or a child, and she certainly didn't need to be escorted or chaperoned. It's not like she was bound to Rika's apartment, and it's not like Zen could come to her, having a busted ankle and no knowledge of the apartment's address. But she certainly was able to go to him. Rather than inconvenience anyone else with plans, she just decided to go and hope for the best.

It's not like he was that hard to find. From what she had read in the chatroom, his address was listed on a Zen fan-site so that people could write him fan mail. It was just a simple matter of typing it into Moogle and hoping she had the right address.

It turns out, he didn't live all that far away from her parent's house. It was all a matter of determining the right route and subway line she needed to ride. She had needed to change over to a different subway line after three stops, but he was relatively close enough that it didn't wear her out rolling over to his place of residence. Hopefully it would all work out. She wasn't sure how long she was going to be here, but she checked Jin into a kennel just in case.

 ** _"You have arrived at your destination."_**

Tucking away her phone, she breathed a sigh of relief, noticing that there was no sign of any stairs to the front entrance. One thing she could scratch off the checklist.

Was she really doing this?

She was just starting to get to know everybody. She didn't want everything to change if they found out what she looked like, when they discovered what her disability was. They would definitely find out after this.

Mustering all the confidence she could gather, she stretched her arm up and pressed the Call button next to the name 'Ryu Hyun' on the apartment intercom and waited.

...oh man, she didn't even think to check if he was going to be home right now! Sure, he was probably benched due to his ankle, but there was the possibility that he was out to grab a bite to eat from the convenience store. Even if he was there, she gave him no warning or time to prepare. How inconsiderate, intruding on him and being a nuisance.

No! She wasn't here for her own gratification. She was here for him. She was his friend, and she needed to be here for him. If he wanted to turn her away, he had every right to do so. She just hoped it wouldn't be because of her... condition.

 _"Hello...?"_ She snapped out of her thoughts long enough to process that someone had answered her call. He sounded exactly like he did on the phone, albeit a little bit warbled from the terrible audio quality.

She wanted to say something, but found the words caught in her throat. She could leave right now and he would never know, she realized suddenly.

"...Zen, it's me. It's Mei." What followed was a nerve-wrecking silence. Was the intercom busted? Maybe he couldn't hear from his side? "...Zen?"

 _"Oh my god... OH MY GOD! YOU'RE HERE! I can't believe you're HERE!"_ His excitement and disbelief showed as the sheer volume of his excitement made her recoil from the intercom speaker. _"HOLD ON JUST ONE SECOND! I'll be right down!"_

"Wait, Zen, aren't you going to buzz me in or- aaaand he's gone." She couldn't help but let out a chuckle at how cute he was being. Now though, she felt a higher amount of pressure. Why was she suddenly so nervous? She had no problem at all ignoring Jaehee and defiantly coming over here on her own merits. It wasn't like her to be afraid. Where had all her no-nonsense bullshit confidence gone? She quickly checked her mirror to see if her cover-up was doing its job, not wanting to add anymore fuel to the pity fire. Her cheeks were slightly red, but other than that, nothing showed, and she was careful to keep her wig hair pulled down low enough to cover her left ear.

She clutched onto her supplies bag almost like it was a security blanket, her knuckles switched into the recycled fabric. Suddenly, it felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders.

And then Zen opened the door.

 **To Be Continued in my story "Beauty is Only Skin Deep".**

* * *

 **Author's Note: Originally, this had been a drabble at the back of my mind, exploring the unused character traits on fanfiction of mental disability and physical disabilities rather than mental illness such as depression (which seems to be covered a lot, and not always accurately). And after playing Zen's Route, I thought "man, you know what would give this more weight? If the main character was in a wheelchair."** **But not all drabbles can be contained into parts in my story here, and Mei-Cho grew into such a character of her own to the point of breaking and completely changing the end of the original plot that I had to give her her own story.**

 **So rather than have you wait forever for Part # of my MM story, I just decided to publish it separately. It was probably inevitable that something like this happened, having so many different draft ideas. They can't all be one-shots.** **Anyways, I hope this encourages you to read my other Mystic Messenger story, but I will still continue to publish drabbles on this one. As long as I have ideas, I doubt this drabble story will ever truly be finished. lol**


End file.
